Proof of Life
by xxmaniac.freakxx
Summary: Abandoned by her parents at the age of 8, Rin sang for a living and fought with her deadly disease. One day, Len saved her when she passed out on the street, and took her in. Rin thought Len was a kind person; yet..she had never been so wrong in her life.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Vocaloid. I only own the story plot.

**Author's Note:**I do not write the person's POV because in real books they don't put it. You'll know whose POV it is if you pay attention to the words. Hope you enjoy :D

_**/EDIT/: I've edited this fic! It might have some differences, but other than that, the editing won't have much effect on the story plot. Enjoy!**_

**PROLOGUE**

_I was destined to die. I know that. But I want to leave something behind... Something that reminded everyone of me... Proof…that I existed in this world... A Proof of My Life..._

* * *

**Chapter 1: Bonds from a Storm**

I will soon wither. My eyesight will darken. I will be blind, deaf, and...

_Lifeless._

My voice, that I used to sing with Len, the most important person to me in the world, will soon wither too.

I wish I could sing one more time… Just _one _more time with Len. But, I want to sing a happy song this time. Also, I want to treasure his smile, the warmest smile in the world, with me until I die.

My fragile body...cursed me. My life had been worthless. I wanted to kill myself a million times. Well, that was before...before I met Len.

* * *

_**December 13th 1884, London**_

It was a stormy night when I first met him. My parents abandoned me since I was 8 years old because they had to spend so much money on curing my disease. Then, after spending 5.000 _worthless_ Euros on curing my disease, they kicked me out of the house. I would be more than happy to get out of that cursed house and away from my horrible parents, of course. But they _kicked_me out! Their own flesh and blood! Me! I wasn't very happy about that.

My parents loved me, only because I could sing. They used my passion of singing and my voice for their own good. _Fame and wealth_. That's what they ever lived for. My parents were very cunning, evil, mischievous and stingy. But, worst of all was they used their _own_ daughter to make money for _them_. And when their daughter was obviously _dying_, they gave up curing her and kicked her out of the house. When she was _8_ _years old_ for God's sake.

Since the day my parents kicked me out, I didn't consider myself as Kagamine Rin anymore. Rin. That's my name. No Kagamine anymore. Only Rin. I hated my parents, and I _do not _want to use _their_family name as mine. But, I couldn't help but feel a pang of loneliness and longing. Deep down, I still loved my parents. Just a bit. Mother had given birth to me, and Father had cared for me and educated me in singing. But then, I suddenly remembered that Mother only kept me because once, she met a fortune-teller that said that Mother's daughter will be extremely talented in singing, and will bring good fortune for her and Father. So Mother kept me. If the fortune-teller hadn't told Mother that I would be useful for Mother and Father's fame and fortune, she would surely have gotten an abortion. She always thought that children are a pain and a waste of time and money. Time is money, that's what she always said. Well, that obviously incinerated this feeling of love inside me.

I slept under bridges, near a river, in an old, worn-out box and best of all, on a chair at the park. But, of course, I couldn't stay on the chair forever, especially at winter. I'll freeze to death if I did that. So, I decided that my permanent house would be the old, worn-out box I've been using for the past 4 years. I used a worn-out, but warm, blanket I found in the trash can. Well, it was still useable; there was only a huge ink spill at the middle of the blanket.

I was twelve then, and I have a fragile body. My disease wasn't any help either. The disease attacks my vital organs, and will eventually hit my brain and heart and I will die. And so, I waited for the time...the time when I wither.

For a living, I sang 3 times a week at the park and lots of people came to see me. About each person who came to see me gave me 5 Euros. And there were always about 35 people there every time I sang. So, I could make 175 Euros each time. I used some for food and kept the rest for emergencies and I saved up for a new house. I know it would take me _ages_ to afford a house on my own at this rate, but at least I've found my reason for living.

But that's not enough. I need something to prove that I existed. A proof of my life. I don't just want to survive. I want to _live_ and be _acknowledged_of. This was practically impossible; I _am_ a diseased peasant after all.

I haven't been singing because it was getting more painful every time I sang; I haven't eaten in 3 whole days!

Then, one day, a storm came. Well, that was lucky, wasn't it?

Anyway, I thought it was the worst storm I've ever seen in my life. But in fact, the storm was what led me to Len. Or what had probably led Len to _me_.

Once the storm ate away my one and only house, the old worn-out box, I walked away without any direction and tears in my eyes. Then, it hit me. It felt like my lungs were being ripped out, along with a hammer pounding my brain. I felt dizzy and immediately crumpled to the ground. With streaks of tears on my cheeks, I took in painful breaths.

_One...two...three... One...two...three_

I counted the painful breaths I took in. I had to make sure I got enough supply of oxygen, so that my brain wouldn't stop working. And of course, my brain and body refused to take the air in, but I willed my body to do so.

_I can't take it anymore._

Every breath feels like sending a knife down your throat. So, I stopped breathing, even though I knew it was essential to me. Oh, well... I guess it's time for me to say good bye.

_But I haven't got the chance to prove my existence._

_I have no proof of life._

_And so, I should not—no,_ could not _die!_

I took in another painful breath. And another one, and another... Until my vision blurred and my heart rate increased. I was sure I was going to die then... Until somebody picked me up, one arm supporting my back, and the other one behind my knees.

For a second, I saw a blonde boy, about my age. He has the same magnetic blue eyes like me. Although his face was more boyish, and his hair was tied up in a ponytail, his facial features looked a lot similar to mine.

"Hold on," he said.

"Who—"

But then, my vision blacked out.

* * *

_**20 minutes Before the Storm**_

"Be back before 7 okay, Len?"

"Yes, Mom," I said. "I'll be back before then."

I walked out of the mansion and headed for the bakery store. It opens until 9 PM.

I checked the watch on my wrist. It said _'6:02'_, and since it'll probably take me about 15 minutes to walk to the bakery store, I'll be back to the mansion before 7. Mom insisted I should ride Excalibur, my horse, to the bakery, but I said that I'd like an evening walk. Besides, it was _just_ a 15 minute walk.

* * *

_**2 minutes Before the Storm**_

After getting all the types of bread from the list my Mom gave me, I walked to the counter and paid.

"That'll be 100 Euros."

"Here you go, Luka," I said as I gave the shopkeeper-slash-childhood friend, Luka, 100 Euros.

"Well, thank you Len. Be careful on your way back."

"I will," I said with a flash of my smile. As I headed for the door, Luka stopped me.

"Wait, Len!"

I turned around. "What is it?" For a second there, I saw concern and _doubt_ in Luka's eyes.

Yes, _doubt_. That was an expression Luka _rarely_ has.

"The weather reporter said that there will be a storm coming in 30 minutes or so. So, run to the mansion Len!"

I smiled at Luka. I hadn't known Luka had an '_immature'_side. All I needed was 15 minutes to walk back, so the storm won't be a problem. "I will Luka, thank you for the warning."

"Run, Len!"

I decided to ignore her.

* * *

I thought the storm won't be a problem. But, that was_before_ a huge wind blew my hat away, and hard rain droplets raked their sharp ends against my face. It had been only _2 minutes_ since I got out of the bakery. _2 minutes!_ Well, the weather reporter _was_often wrong.

Then, a huge storm fell crashing down onto the streets of London.

I ran to the mansion, holding on to my bag filled with different types of bread. So far, the storm blew away my hat and my yellow scarf. I am _not_ going to let it blow away Mom's shopping bag.

I kept running, my chest heaving up and down. What I thought was a 15 minute walk, felt like a _month_ of running. Just as I thought I would never get back home, I saw the mansion at the end of the road.

But then, I saw something else. _Someone,_ to be precise.

A girl, about my age I think, was lying on the ground. I couldn't see the movement of her shoulders—which indicated no signs of her still breathing.

Panicked, I ran to her and lifted her up. I _do not_ ignore somebody that needs help. She was quite light, and I headed back for the mansion, a girl and the shopping bag in my arms.

* * *

"Len, you're soaking wet! I'm so sorry, dear! If I knew a storm was coming, I would have _never_ sent you to the bakery!"

"It's okay, Mom. Besides, you never listened to the weather reports."

Mom gave me a watery smile. Her eyes filled with tears. "I'll listen to the weather reports from now on dear."

I smiled. "No need Mom. The weather reporter is very often wrong."

She smiled faintly and nodded.

"How's the girl, Mom?" I said, trying to change the subject.

"She's fine dear. I changed her clothes," Mom said, a kind smile on her face. "How did you ever find her, Len?"

"I was running to the mansion when I saw her lying on the ground, so I brought her here. You don't mind, do you?"

She smiled and shook her head. "I don't mind at all, in fact I'm proud of you for taking her here in the first place."

"It wasn't that big of a problem," I said, a genuine smile stretched across my face.

"Still, I'm really, really proud of you, Len." Mom's face seemed worried. "It's your Dad I'm worried about. He would never let strangers into the house, let alone...orphans." Mom avoided using the word, _'peasant'_. She always thought everyone as an equal; she hated the word _'peasant'_.

While Dad, on the other hand, liked to mock peasants and respect the rich. He once threw Excalibur's..._waste_ on top of a peasant and laughed at the seemingly funny joke.

Why did my Mom ever fall in love with that...guy?

Mom seemed to have read my mind.

"Your Dad once was a very kind man. He liked to treat others as equals. There were no…_peasants_or _rich people_in his dictionary. Well, until his company got broke. He was drunk, his world turned completely around, and he started hating…those unlucky people."

Again, she didn't use the word that hurt her.

"But, it wasn't their fault, right?"

Mom looked at me with those sad eyes again, and shrugged. "Oh, dear, I don't know for sure. The '_unlucky ones'_ envied the wealth that my husband…had. Although he was a kind man, they _still_envied him of his wealth. And so, they released rats inside his company when a health inspector was in the building. And so, the company shut down."

I kept my mouth shut. It seems that Mom doesn't want me to remind her of that matter. So, I changed the topic. "I see. Anyway, Mom, may I check on the girl?"

Mom suddenly smiled and nodded, that sad look was long gone from her eyes. "She's inside the guest room."

* * *

I knocked on the guest room door and went in. The girl was still sleeping, breathing heavily. Fortunately, Mom is a doctor and she gave the girl some medicine so she'll breathe normally. I sat on the chair next to the bed. She looks just like me, except for the fact that she's a girl and I am a boy.

A filthy white ribbon was resting on top of her head and hairclips were neatly clipped on her hair. I took off the filthy white ribbon and washed it at the sink. I let it dry off near the sink and went back to the chair, waiting for her to wake up.

* * *

I woke up, finding myself on a very comfy bed. I tried to sit down, but my body ached and I immediately fell back down.

"Good. You're awake."

I looked to my right and saw a boy that looked just like me. He looked somewhat…familiar. I wrecked my brain, trying to find the memory of this boy. I thought deeply, and his voice, too, seemed familiar. Of course! He was the one that saved my life!

"Thank you, for saving my life," I said.

"You're welcome," he said with a gentle smile. "My name is Len, by the way. Kagamine Len."

My eyes widened in pure shock. He has the same family name I have—_had_. But, it was impossible. No way could he be related to me. He looked as old as me, and I don't remember having a brother. Maybe it was just a coincidence.

"My name is Rin."

He smiled. "And how do you feel now?"

"Fine," I said, returning the smile. "All better, thanks to you."

"Good," he said, a warm smile stretched along the lines of his face. Then, suddenly his smile faded into a worried frown.

"What's wrong?" I said.

"It's just that... I was just wondering...Why were you lying in the ground?"

I looked away. I didn't want to tell him about the disease, but then he _did_ saved my life.

"I-it's alright if you don't want to tell me, Rin."

I smiled and shook my head. "Well, you see... I have a disease. It…it's called heart cancer."

Len's eyes widened in shock.

"Yes, I know. Terrifying right?" I said. "That's why I didn't want to tell you…"

Tears started to well up in my eyes. Len would surely want me out of the house now. After all, I _am_just a diseased peasant that he took in. I'll just be a pain to him and his family... Although, deep down… I didn't want Len to kick me out. The feeling of being kicked out is too much to bear...

Len started to panic. "What's wrong Rin? Did I say something wrong?"

I shook my head in a 'no'.

"Then, what is it?"

"Y-you would surely want me out of the house now, r-right?" I stammered between sobs. Len lifted his eyebrows in confusion.

"Why would I want to do that, Rin?" he said. "I would never abandon you on the street."

My tears stopped instantly. "What do you mean?"

Len smiled. "My Mom is a doctor, she would surely cure you."

"So you mean..."

"Yes. You could stay with me until you've recovered."

My eyes flickered with joy. I hugged Len in delight. Yes, the sudden movement _did_ hurt a bit, but what the heck. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I said.

Len smiled and hugged me back. "You're welcome."

Then, a deep voice came from the door.

"What do you mean, Len?"

Len broke the hug and turned around. His eyes widened in shock. "Da-dad…"

"What do you mean, she could stay with _us_?" Len's dad said.

"It-it's just that s-she…" Len stammered.

"She _what, _Len?"

Len gulped and took a deep breath, trying to compose himself. It's obvious that Len was frightened by his own father. "She's sick, Dad. She needs medical attention."

"Why can't her parents do it for her?" Len's dad said; his voice deep and frightening. Len didn't know what else to say. Well, Len didn't, but _I_ did.

"My parents disowned me," I said. As I said that, both Len and his father kept quiet and turned around to look at me, the weak girl sitting up on the bed. "I am _sick_, Mr. Kagamine. Sick with a deadly disease. My parents gave up curing me and threw me to the streets when I was 8 years old. I lived in a worn-out box for the past 4 years. But, my box was destroyed in the storm, so I do not have a home to stay in, _nor_ do I have parents to love me." I gave a quick glance at Len and then to his father. For a second there, I thought I saw pity in Mr. Kagamine's eyes. But, that was just an illusion.

"I don't care if you die on the street. Just get out of my house!"

I felt my heart sank to the bottom of my stomach.

"Please, Dad! Let her—"

"Be quiet Len! What do you know about this cruel world? You're just a naïve kid!"

Well, Len's dad was stubborn. In that case, the only thing I could do was to use my trump card.

I stepped out of the bed, losing my balance for a second and quickly grabbed the edge of the bed for support. I locked eyes with Mr. Kagamine's blue eyes, and gave him the most serious look I could muster. "I could sing," I said. "You could use me for your _fame_..._and wealth_."

Mr. Kagamine's eyes perked up in joy at the word _'wealth'_. _Wealth,_ that's all adults could think of.

"Then, sing for me girl."

I nodded and opened my mouth to sing a song I made, 'Proof of Life'. It hurts every time I sang, but I have to hold it.

_"The wind's voice tells me of winter_

_My body shivers as I listen_

_You're right next to me_

_Your breath seems white and cold…_

_Life has withered away, too, this year_

_Before long, I've grown impatient for spring's arrival_

_While listening to the chains of life_

_Continuing to bud in the light..._

_My fate continues to rot away_

_I understand, but I remain strong_

_I want to breathe, I want to sing_

_It would be good if I can leave something behind_

_That says I have lived… a proof of my life_

_I don't want to sing a sad song_

_Hey, I'm begging you, right now my only wish_

_Is to laugh next to you_

_I want to sing a gentle song_

_Several winters passed by_

_I finally realized this feeling_

_I can't say it out loud but_

_Our hearts are always connected, right?_

_It's dark, I can't see anything…_

_I can't hear anything…_

_It's scary…_

_It's painful…_

_It's lonely…_

_While everything in me_

_Continues to disappear_

_Your smiling face_

_Still lingers…_

_You are singing a gentle song, right?_

_Even though we're wrapped up in this world of loneliness_

_I'm always beside you, don't forget_

_You are never alone_

_I'm not lonely because you're here_

_You embrace with your warm hands_

_I can't hear you, but I understand_

_The hands that you hold me said "I love you"_

_I do not want to sing a sad song_

_Hey, I'm begging you, my only wish right now_

_Is to laugh with you_

_I want to sing a gentle song_

_I want to dedicate it to you, a song of parting_

_In my last moment, I want to tell you…"_

I looked at Len, and spoke the last word of my song. "...thank you."

Len smiled and nodded. I could see his eyes glistened with suppressed sadness. I myself have got to admit that my song really was sad. At least, Len was still being a man. His father was crying like a lost baby.

"Y-you don't have to pay f-for the medical attention we're going to give y-you. You could stay here for as long as you want. As long as you sing me that song one more t-time," Len's father said between sobs. I showed my pearly smile at Len. He smiled back and I started singing once more.

* * *

**Author's Note:** That's all for now! And yes. Len's dad has mood swings issues.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:**I do not own Vocaloid, I am just a huge fan of them ;) oh, but the story plot is mine.

_**/EDIT/: I've edited this fic! This chapter has a **_**lot**_** of differences, but other than that, the editing won't have much effect on the story plot. Enjoy!**_

* * *

**Chapter 2: Puzzle Pieces**

_**December 15th 1889, London**_

It had been 5 years since the day I met Len. Now, Len and I are 17 years old; although, Len was a couple of months older than me.

Len and his family had been super nice to me and Len's mother was still struggling to find a cure for my disease. Also, I sang almost every night for Len's father; especially, when he was in a bad mood. I asked him whether I should sing something else to him rather than only 'Proof of Life', but he insisted me to keep singing that same song over and over again. Yes, it hurts when I sing. But, I tend to hold that pain because I wanted to do something to show my gratitude to these very kind people.

Yes, _nice_. You might think that Mr. Kagamine wasn't a very nice man, but actually, he was. He got drunk easily, though. And I found out that he didn't hate _unlucky ones_ with a passion; he just hated those people that didn't show any signs of respect. Mr. Kagamine also loathed people who'd do such a disgusting thing, like oh I don't know… _Releasing rats in a building in the middle of a health inspection?_

* * *

_**December 16th 1889, London**_

I have nothing to do.

I feel so…_bored._

With nothing else to do, I gazed out of the window and saw angel-like snow fall out of the sky, as if it were tears from an angel. Amazed by the beautiful scenery, I stepped out of the bed and walked slowly to the window, and slowly opened it.

I watched as my now visible breath come and go every time I breathe. Oh, how I wish I could go out there and play in the snow... Well, if I play out there _once,_ it won't be a problem, right? And besides, no one would know. Len's dad and mom were working and Len was playing the piano in his room. What they don't know won't hurt, right?

Boredom led me to grab the yellow scarf, and white coat Mrs. Kagamine had bought for me. After I had put them on, I walked out of the front door and into the mansion's huge garden, _completely_ covered with snow.

I couldn't believe my eyes.

Everything…_every_ single thing was completely covered with snow. Even the little daisies I planted seasons ago. It was spectacular. The sight, the winter breeze… _Everything._

This was the first time I've ever enjoyed winter. I shivered as the temperature dropped. _My body is very fragile to snow,_ that's what Mrs. Kagamine had told me. But, I wasn't going to let that stop me.

I made countless snow-angels and snowmen. Completely satisfied with my work, I walked back to the mansion, enjoying the view once more. I was about to enter the mansion when a sudden wind blew off my scarf.

"What the— No!" I shouted, as I chased the scarf that was flown away by the wind to the back of the mansion.

The wind blew the scarf onto a tree branch. I looked up and my eyes widened in awe.

"Wow… The…the tree…it's...huge," I whispered to myself.

The branches were long and mighty. If it ever falls on top of me, I would surely be crushed. The countless leaves were all covered in a thick blanket of snow.

On one of the top-most branches, I could see my yellow scarf.

I gulped. No way. I am _never_ going to climb that high. But, the scarf was a present and I loved it.

Forming my hands into fists, I decided what I must do.

_Climb this huge tree._

* * *

"No… That's supposed to be like this, and this note is supposed to be like that..." I said as I scribbled notes on top of a music sheet. "And...Done! Now, let's try it..." I positioned my fingers on top of the piano and started pressing the keys. I opened my mouth and sang quietly.

_"At night when silence_

_Envelops the town_

_It is raining white_

_I hold up my palms_

_The snow melts as soon as I touched it_

_A transient piece of life_

_Snow accumulates without a sound_

_Like light_

_You smile as you gathered it_

_Hey, how do I sound?_

_Even if I reply, you_

_Cannot hear anymore_

_Say you're in pain_

_Say you're lonely_

_I'll find you_

_Wherever you are..._

_Don't leave me behind, aren't we always_

_Together as one?_

_As the snow becomes thicker_

_You gradually fade away_

_I can't do anything but embrace you_

_I wish, just one more time_

_To hear your voice_

_One more time, just one more time..._

_Say my name..._

_From your un-focused, blank eyes_

_A drop appeared_

_In this gray world_

_Everything has stopped_

_Except for the quietly falling snow_

_You are becoming cold_

_Your voice has not come back_

_We've given up understanding each other_

_Hear my voice, smile for me once more_

_I have ran out of tears_

_I cannot_

_Melt you..._

_If possible, my voice_

_Take it all away_

_And give it to the person dear to me_

_If I'll be in a world alone_

_Without you_

_Just..._

_Take me away_

_With you_

_I love you, even that_

_Cannot be said_

_Our era_

_Is about to close_

_Forever_

_Even if I shout, I can't get_

_You or your voice back_

_To the falling snow_

_Please don't stop falling_

_Take me away with her_

_Everything transient, my voice, my life_

_Erase all of them_

_Until all is white..."_

I smiled. That was good—no, _perfect_.

I closed the lid of the piano and grabbed a pen. I wrote **'Soundless Voice by: Kagamine Len'** in bold letters, and gathered the music sheets. Opening one of my yellow folders, I slipped the music sheet neatly and felt completely satisfied with myself.

Placing back the yellow folder to a bookshelf, I stood in front of a window and admired the view.

Until I saw _Rin_ making _snow angels._

Countless snowmen were spread about the garden, as well. Why was she playing in the snow? She must've known by now, that her body is _very_ fragile to snow.

I sighed. Sometimes Rin could be so stubborn. Yes, she was nice, smart, and she had a great voice, but this stubborn attitude of hers wasn't making my life any easier. Sighing once more, I grabbed my black coat and headed out.

"Huh?" I said as I looked around the _deserted_ garden covered with _lots_ of snow angels and snow men. "Where could she be?"

She's not here… Did somebody else made those snowmen and snow angels? Or was I hallucinating? But…who else other than Rin? No one could've gotten into the mansion, seeing as it was locked.

Maybe…she's at the back of the house? Well, it was worth a try.

* * *

I was right. I don't know how she managed to do it, but…

Rin was hugging the _top-most_ branch, trying to reach her scarf at the tip of the branch. She could fall!

I cupped my hands around my mouth, so that Rin could hear my voice. "Rin, get back down here! You're going to die if you fall!" I shouted. Rin held on to the branch with both her arms and feet, making her look like a koala. A pretty cute koala—_stop._

"I won't, Len! I have to get m-my scarf!" Rin stammered, obviously scared of the _very_ real fact that she might fall.

"I'll buy you a new one! Please get down, Rin! I'm _begging_ you!" I shouted.

_Beg._ I haven't begged _anyone_ to do something in my whole life. Why do I care for her so much?

Rin shook her head gently. "N-no… t-that's a present from your mom..."

"Please, Rin!" I echoed.

Her life was more precious to me. I don't know why, but I felt like I just couldn't—_no, _that's not it. I felt like I _can't_ let her die.

"No… I have to get that s-scarf!" Rin said, crawling further to the tip of the branch.

"Rin, stop! Don't you understand?" Anger had suddenly grabbed hold of me.

Rin stopped crawling and looked at me. Our blue eyes met.

"Your life is more important to me than some silly scarf! I will _never_ forgive myself if you die!" I said, emphasizing on the word _'never'_. "In fact…you are one of the most important people to me in world."

Was she really? I didn't have the time to think about it; though my heart said it was true.

_Why? This feeling… I don't get it._

Rin's eyes widened in surprise. "Am I…really, Len?"

The logical part of my brain said, _'Not really. She's just a stranger, no need to care for her that much…right?' _

But even then, the logical part of my brain was unsure.

"Of course, Rin." Yes, my heart meant it.

Tears started to fill Rin's eyes. Tears of joy, from the look on her face.

But then, I could see an ever-expanding crack forming on the branch Rin was grabbing hold of.

_Crack!_

'Run, Len. _Run_!' was what my brain said, but my body ignored it.

Instead of running, my body plunged forward and grabbed the girl falling from the sky. I hugged her tightly, and rolled on the ground. The huge branch came toppling down behind me. As the rolling slowed down, I found Rin hugging me tightly.

"Rin, are you okay?" I asked. And, I have _no_ idea why my body refuses to break apart the hug. Maybe it was because I was worried that if I let go, I could see wounds on her. I really don't know why, though.

Rin nodded and stood up. She reached out her trembling right hand and said, "Get up."

"Thank you," I said as I grabbed her hand. As I stood up, I felt a throbbing pain in my right ankle. But, I decided to ignore it.

"Len…" Rin said, as we were walking to the back door of the mansion.

"Yes?"

"It-it's just that... I…" Rin said. Then, tears began to form in her eyes. I panicked and stepped in front of her, clutching both of her shoulders with my hands.

"What is it? Are you hurt? Did I hurt you?"

Rin shook her head.

I gave out a sigh of relief. "Then, what is it?"

"I'm sorry... if I didn't play in the snow… your right ankle wouldn't be hurt…"

How did she know? I haven't told her about my ankle.

Rin seemed to have read my mind. "The way you walk... it's…it's not your usual way of walking. Also, I saw your face wince from pain when I helped you stood up."

I smiled. "Don't mind it, Rin. I'm sure it's just a minor sprain."

"Allow me to take care of that sprain, please?" Rin pleaded. I was a bit unsure, because I thought she had _zero_ experience with handling people.

"Sure, why not?" Yeah, why not? It's not like she could do anything bad.

* * *

"Am I being too hard?" I asked as I was bandaging Len's sprain. For second, I thought I could see Len blush very, _very_ slightly from my touch.

"No. You're doing just fine."

"Good, I thought I was doing it wrong. I've seen Mrs. Kagamine do it every time a patient came here, countless times." I said.

Len nodded. "I see…"

The conversation ended. Was Len angry at me for going out in the snow? I just had to make sure.

"H-hey Len... I'm sorry that I played in the snow earlier… I just… I just wanted to enjoy the snow."

The boy shook his head. "It's fine. Hey Rin, if you really wanted to enjoy the snow, then I could take you next week when Mom and Dad are out of town."

My eyes perked up in joy. "Really?"

Len smiled. The smile I've always loved. "Yes, they're celebrating their anniversary outside of town for a week, so we've got plenty of time to ourselves," he said.

Nodding my _'yes'_, I stood up and said, "Well, you're going to be fine now," I've finished bandaging Len and I decided to go out, since I have no right to stay here. Until, Len's voice stopped me.

"On one condition."

I turned around and saw him open the lid of his piano. "Excuse me?" I asked.

Len reached out for a yellow folder in his bookshelf. "I'd love to take you outside, but if Mom and Dad finds out, I'll be in big trouble."

I felt a little disappointment in my chest. "So…you're _not_ going to take me?"

The blonde boy took out a piece of paper that looked like a music sheet. "No, no. I'd take you, of course. But, with the big risks I'm taking… I'm asking you to do something for me, as a favor."

Confusion was written all across my face and I guess, Len noticed it.

"I want to hear you sing 'Proof of Life' while I play the piano. Singing a song is never that great without an instrument or two to accompany it."

_That's it? _I thought. _It seems pretty easy, so why not?_

"Sure."

Len started pressing some keys, while I started to sing.

Little did I know that Mr. and Mrs. Kagamine were listening behind the door of Len's room.

Yeah, they were _eavesdropping._

"Len has found it," Mrs. Kagamine whispered into her husband's ear. "Len has found his other puzzle piece."

"Len has found what?" Mr. Kagamine whispered back, his angry voice is long gone, all thanks to Rin's melodious voice. "I don't remember ever buying him a puzzle."

"Seriously," Mrs. Kagamine said as she rolled her eyes at her husband's words. "I thought you'd have more in that brain of yours."

* * *

**Author's Note:**I know…this is a short chapter... but…if you read the next chapter, I'm sure you'd love it :]

See you in the next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:** Hey, sorry I haven't updated in a while. Okay, anyway, I just wanted to tell you to remember that Len's dad has some major mood swing issues ;) and I'm sure by now you're all confused, thinking:

_**'Why did Len's family kindly took in Rin?**_**'** Or

_**'Why do they care so much for Rin? Isn't she just a poor girl without a home? Did they take her in just because of their kindness?'**_

Well, all of that are going to be explained in this chapter :] Oh and I'll start using a third-person POV too. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Vocaloid.

_**/EDIT/: I've edited this fic! This chapter has a **_**lot **_**of differences, but other than that, the editing won't have much effect on the story plot. Enjoy!**_

* * *

**Chapter 3: Loved Ones**

_**December 17th 1889, London**_

"Please, Len? Can I go with you to school?" Rin asked; a pleading look on her face.

Mrs. Kagamine never lets Rin go to a public school because she's afraid that Rin might get too tired and pass out. And so, for the past 5 years, Mrs. Kagamine home-schooled Rin, while Len goes to school; although he rarely does. He has all the books he could read in the mansion, so why bother go to school?

But today, Mrs. Kagamine insisted that Len goes to school. He's been ditching school for the past two weeks without his parents knowing, but today he got busted.

When Len's mom asked _'How are you doing in school?'_ to Len, the _'innocent'_ Rin answered _'Oh, didn't you know, Mrs. Kagamine? Len here hasn't been going to school for the past two weeks'._ So, Mrs. Kagamine got angry and _ordered_ him to go to school. Len was very sure that Rin busted him because yesterday night, Len busted Rin for not taking her medicines to his parents.

Yeah, maybe that was a bit selfish of Rin, but Len also thought she had _other_ reasons for busting him. Maybe she knew that if she hadn't told him off, he won't go to school, and get any smarter. Though, there was a slight possibility that Rin busted him, so she could go to school together with Len.

"No Rin. You know I can't let you," Len said.

"Please? Just once?" Rin pleaded.

Len stayed quiet, apparently considering whether to let Rin go with him to school or not.

"If you let me go with you, I promise I'll drink the medicines Mrs. Kagamine gave me."

Len thought about Rin's offer over and over again. Rin hasn't been taking her medicines lately; is it possible she had already given up on living? Len _must_ make sure Rin took her medicines. "Alright. But, you must promise me that you will take the medicines Mom gave you, okay?"

Rin nodded enthusiastically. But suddenly, her face turned into a worried look. "But, is it okay that I'm wearing this?" Rin said, pointing to her clothing.

It was actually fine. She wore a white, long-sleeved, knee-length dress and a huge black ribbon was resting neatly on the back of her waist. She also wore black stockings and black knee-length boots, with her usual white ribbon and hairclips resting perfectly on her head. Len smiled and nodded.

"You look great, Rin," Len said. Rin suddenly found the floor very interesting. "Well, shall we go?" Len asked. Rin looked up and smiled sheepishly.

"Let's go!"

Rin grabbed her usual white coat, yellow earmuffs and scarf she always wore outside when it's cold.

Len put on his usual yellow earmuffs and scarf—identical to Rin's—and his favorite black coat. He opened the door for Rin and locked it after him.

Mom and Dad were working, so they won't be back until 8 P.M. Rin took hold of Len's right sleeve. Len wasn't sure why, but he was…happy? Why was he happy because of that simple matter?

"We're going to walk to school right?" Rin asked.

"No, we're going to ride Excalibur," Len said. "Unless... If you rather walk, then…"

"No! I- I would love to ride Excalibur!" Rin said, practically shining with joy. Her blue eyes lit up and a dazzling smile was painted on her face. Len couldn't help but smile as well.

"Alright then," Len said.

He walked to the right side of the mansion and headed for the large barn, filled with various types of horses. The blond walked to the very end of the barn, and gave a sugar cube to Excalibur—a pure white horse with a great mane.

Len patted the angel-like horse gently. "Hey there, Excalibur. Did you get a good night's sleep?" Len asked, as if Excalibur would answer him. Though Rin knew by heart that somehow Excalibur knew what Len was saying because Excalibur neigh his 'yes'. Len laughed fondly in return.

Then, Len opened the stable's little door, went in, attached a saddle and a clip-on bag to the saddle, onto Excalibur. While Len was doing that, Rin walked in front of Excalibur and rubbed his head gently.

"Hello there, Excalibur. I missed you," Rin said. In all of her 5 years living in Len's mansion, she always had time to spare to play with Excalibur, but recently her body was weakening; although Rin didn't plan to tell Len about that. Only Mrs. Kagamine knew that her body was _rapidly_ weakening.

"Alright, everything's set. Let's go, Rin!" Len said energetically. Rin nodded and she could feel Len's arms lifting her off the ground and onto Excalibur's back. After Rin was seated on the saddle, her 2 legs at one side of the horse, Len got up onto the saddle and took a seat behind Rin, protecting her from falling. "Um…you might want to hold on to me," Len said, a very red color rose to his cheeks, and so did Rin's.

"A-alright," Rin said, putting her arms around Len's waist and resting her head on his chest. Then, off they go to Len's school.

* * *

Len's school was just a normal two-story building, the walls were painted creamy-white and a there was a plaque that says _'Lacrimosa High School'_.

There was a huge garden covered with snow in the front yard, filled with benches. A huge fountain was beautifully put in the middle with a golden plaque that reads: _'Lacrimosa Garden'_. Well, okay, maybe not exactly _normal_.

What separated it from any other school was the huge barn alongside its left-side wall. The barn also had a plaque that says _'Lacrimosa Barn'_ and beneath it, the words read, _'Leave your horses in here'_.

Len climbed down from Excalibur and led Rin and the horse deeper into the barn. It was also filled with different types of horses, although not as much as Len has back home. He stopped at an empty stable that has a little sign that says _'Kagamine'_. _Wow, the students have their own personal stables for their horses..._ Rin thought.

"Come on Rin, or we'll be late for class," Len said, wrapping his hands around Rin's waist and helping her down. "Take off your coat, earmuffs and scarf and put them there," Len said pointing to the bag clipped on the right side of the saddle. Rin did as she was told and followed Len out of the barn. _It's going to be the greatest day ever, _Rin thought.

Little did she know that her words were going to backfire.

"Who is she, Len?" A boy with blue hair said. "Is she your girlfriend?"

"No, she is not my girlfriend," Len said calmly.

_I hate it,_ Rin thought. _I hate it when people talked about me like I'm not there._

"Then, it's alright if I take her, don't you think?" The blue haired guy said. _Take,_ Rin thought, _He talks about me as if I'm a 'thing'_.

"Get your hands off her, Kaito!" Len said, his tone rose a bit when the guy named 'Kaito' grabbed Rin's right arm and wrapped his around her.

Rin's reflexes caused her to punch Kaito in the face with all her might. Kaito let go of his grip and went tumbling to the ground. That punch took a lot of Rin's energy, but she still held her ground.

"Whoops, sorry. Reflex," Rin said, as she lifted her fist, and looked at it regretfully. She hated this guy a bit, but she never meant to hit him _that_ hard.

Len's eyes widened in pure shock.

Kaito stood up weakly while rubbing his face that Rin had punched.

"How dare you punch me?" Kaito said angrily. Kaito was embarrassed that a girl—a weak one, at that—managed to punch _him_ in the _face_.

Len stepped up defensively in front of Rin. "Just leave her alone, Kaito."

Kaito's face contorted in anger and embarrassment. His face showed that _then-I'm-going-to-hit-you-instead_ look.

Rin felt nauseas. She didn't want them to fight like this.

She has got to do something. But...what?

Rin looked around the hallway. Everyone stood around them, watching with curious and terrified faces.

Kaito lifted his fist up in the air.

Without thinking, Rin stepped up in front of Len and the punch landed on her face.

The punch hurt, and it made her face a bit blue, but she stood her ground stubbornly.

She will _not _let this guy hurt Len.

Len was stunned with shock and horror; and so did Kaito.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hit you," Kaito said when he realized how hard he had hit her.

"Sorry I punched you. It was just m-my reflex. But, please…don't hurt L-Len," Rin stammered.

Although she sounded weak, determination was visible in her eyes, like a flame roaring up to the sky.

Kaito nodded and turned away, walking with huge, fast steps. Rin smiled and lost her balance. Len caught her just in time.

"Rin, you weren't supposed to—"

"What? And let you get hit? I won't let that happen to you," Rin said, smiling weakly in Len's arms.

Len gritted his teeth and hugged her. _He_ was supposed to protect _her_, not vice versa. What she just did, it made Len's chest fill with guilt and regret. He felt protective of Rin, and his body moved to its own accord.

"Do _not _do that ever again. It's better that _I_ get hurt, not you," Len said.

Rin's cheeks turned a bit scarlet. Len broke apart the hug and He turned to the crowd still watching them. The crowd cooed and said something like, _'that's so sweet'_.

Len shooed them away. "We better get to class."

* * *

Their first class was history.

Rin enjoyed learning it, while Len did not.

Len felt bored, and so he stared out of the window, watching snowflakes fall. He already studied history in his mansion, so this material was a piece of cake for him.

Although Rin enjoyed studying history, the teacher is making it sound _really _boring by the second. So, instead of listening, her eyes darted across the room, studying her classmates' faces, but no one got her attention.

Most people were asleep, whereas the rest were listening to the teacher.

_No one seems interesting,_ Rin thought.

As she turned to look at the front once more, there was one person that caught her attention.

That person was sitting on a chair at the edge of the room, and her forearms were resting on the table. Like Len, she was also looking out of the window, gazing at the beautiful snowflakes.

She had green, teal hair that was tied up in pigtails that reached her knees. Her expression and eyes were blank, it's as if she was either day-dreaming or she doesn't care about her life anymore. She looked up at Rin and Rin immediately looked away, cheeks turning red from embarrassment.

"You!" The history teacher pointed at Rin with her chalk. Rin trembled in shock and said,

"Yes, Ms. Vancouver?"

"Stop looking around the room and _pay attention!_ You're just a _peasant _here, so pay attention missy! I was kind enough to let you into the room." Ms. Vancouver emphasized on the word _'peasant'_.

She was a fat teacher that had her brown hair with white streaks of hair curled up onto her head. She wore a red, long-sleeved blouse that had frills from the top of the collar down to her chest, and a black skirt that reached her knees.

"Y-yes, Ms. Vancouver." Rin obediently paid attention.

"Her name's Rin, Ms. Vancouver. And she is _not_ a peasant," Len said, his gaze still fixed on the ever-falling snowflakes.

"How d-dare you Mr. Kagamine?" Ms. Vancouver stammered. Her face wore a mask of fake anger.

Len tore his gaze away from the snow and turned to look at the history teacher; his gaze cold and heartless.

Rin shivered at the sight of it; and so did Ms. Vancouver.

"I was just trying to tell you that it is _not_ polite to call a person by names you make up. The proper and polite way is to call people by their names. So, I'm telling you that her name is Rin. She's also not a peasant and if you call her by that again, I won't be responsible for my own actions," Len said, his chin resting on the back of his hands that were intertwined together.

Ms. Vancouver's shiver was visible to the whole class and she quickly looked away from Len, resuming the lesson. _Pretending as if nothing happened._

Rin turned to steal a glance at Len. Their eyes met and Len was smiling fondly at her. Rin returned the smile and quickly looked back to the blackboard, hiding her shocked face.

* * *

"Well, are you enjoying school so far?" Len asked after getting out of Geography class. It was lunch now and they were heading for the snow covered garden.

"Yes, I am!" Rin said; an energetic smile on her face.

Len smiled back, and opened the wooden double-doors of the school's front entrance, stepping through. He found a seat under a huge tree, covered with a thick blanket of snow, and patted the empty space next to him, gesturing Rin to sit down. Rin sat down next to him and opened her wrapped tuna sandwich.

While Rin was eating, Len was quietly drinking a cup of hot chocolate he brought from home. They ate in silence, until Rin saw the teal-haired girl from history class. Rin nudged Len's ribs urgently and he almost dropped his hot chocolate.

"What is it Rin?" He asked, rubbing his ribs. Rin looked at the teal-haired girl sitting on a bench under a snow-covered cherry tree across of them.

"Who is she?" Rin asked. Len followed Rin's gaze.

"Oh, do you mean Hatsune Miku?" Len asked to make sure. "Why does it matter?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just that her eyes are blank and lifeless. Unlike all of the people I've seen, who had cheerful expressions and joyful eyes." Rin finished her sandwich, and walked to a trash can near to the school's front entrance, in order to throw the plastic away. Instead of coming back to sit with Len, she headed towards Hatsune Miku.

_Oh no,_ Len thought. _This is going to be bad. _Len stood up and followed after Rin.

"Hey there," Rin said to Miku.

Miku's eyes were fixed on the apple she was eating and ignored Rin. "Mind if I sit down?" she added.

Again… No answer. _I'm taking that as a yes,_ Rin thought. She sat down next to Miku.

"Who said you could sit down next to me?" Miku said with her croaking voice. Miku's gaze was still fixed on the apple she was eating, but it was obvious that Miku directed that question at Rin. _At least I got her to talk to me,_ Rin thought.

"Sorry," Rin said and stood up.

"Let's go, Rin." Len said from behind her. He quickly walked to Rin's side.

"But…why?" Rin said.

"Because I hate him," Miku said and threw away her apple to the ground. She looked up to see Len's face, her eyes now filled with fury. Len stayed quiet and stared at the ground. Rin was confused—no, _more_ than confused. She was _puzzled_.

"Why?" Rin asked to Miku. Miku turned her murderous eyes towards Rin.

"Oh, I'll tell you why," Miku said. "I hate—no, _despise_ him because he destroyed my one and only treasure. The thing that kept me bonded with Lily."

"W-what do you mean?" Rin asked. Miku stood up and walked past Rin and Len. When her shoulder brushed Rin's, she whispered,

"He took away the two most precious things to me."

After Miku had gone into the school, Rin turned her eyes to Len, who was now staring guiltily at the bench Miku was sitting on.

"What did she mean by, 'he took away the two most precious things to me'?"

Len looked up guiltily. "I broke her necklace."

"A necklace? She despised you because of that?" Rin said. She was finding it hard to believe that Miku could despise a person only because of a tiny matter. Len turned his head to look at Rin.

"It wasn't just any necklace Rin. It was the necklace that Lily, my sister, gave to Miku before she... died."

Thousands of questions were popping randomly in Rin's head. Questions like 'Len had a sister?', 'How did she die?' and 'Why did Len destroyed Miku's necklace?'

"Okay. Len, you have to—no, you must tell me the story from the very top," Rin commanded. She had had enough of this maddening curiosity. She needs to know what had happened between them. Len sighed; a sign that he was giving up.

"Alright. I'll tell you, Rin," Len said. "But it's a very long story, so I'll tell you when school is over."

* * *

"When the equations 2x-3y=15 and 4x+14y=20 appear, you could use either the substitution method or the elimination..."

_Ugh… This is really boring,_ Rin thought, _please, let the bell ring..._ Then, as if her prayers were heard, the bell rang. Everyone cheered and raced out of the room as if the room was on fire. The only people left in the room were Miku, Len, Rin and the math teacher who looked angry because the bell cut off his speech. The teacher sighed, packed up his things and went out of the room.

Now, there were only 3 people there. Miku stepped in front of Rin's desk, her hand intertwined behind her back, and she wore a—almost—devilish smirk on her face.

"Hey, Rin… Could you come with me for a second?" Miku asked sweetly, in an almost…_sinister_ way. Rin glanced at Len for support and he shook his head in a _'no'_. Rin was supposed to say _'no'_, but curiosity took over her and she said,

"Sure."

Miku smiled, she took Rin's hand and headed for the door. Len followed them, but Miku stopped him at the edge of the door.

"Ah-ah," Miku said, wiggling her index finger left and right at every syllable. Len took a step back. "You can't come with us Mr. Kagamine; you will wait here, in this classroom. Look out from the window if you have to. But, if you even take a single step out of this door..." Miku took a small pocket knife out of her black dress' pocket. Visible to both Rin and Len.

_Why the heck did she brought a pocket knife_? Len thought.

Miku smiled. "You must be wondering why I brought this little thing..." she said, putting the knife deep into her pocket once more."I brought it because… well, you see... I am a beautiful 17 year-old girl. It will be a shame if a filthy male ever planned to do _something_ to me… Don't you think?"

And with that, she turned around, heading for the school's entrance, dragging Rin along with her. _She's lying,_ Len thought, _she might've brought it to kill me. Or Rin… Well, I have a bad feeling about this..._

"But...she wouldn't know that I ever stepped out of this door, since she's outside, right?" Len asked himself.

"Oh yeah she would."

Len looked up and saw a brown-haired girl, standing across the door, leaning against the wall. "Meiko?"

"Miku paid me to guard this particular door. She said that I have to keep you from stepping outside the door at all costs," Meiko said, getting out a pocket knife. "Who knows why she wanted me to do that? I did it only because she paid me to do it. Oh, and she promised me she'll give me 2 bottles of sake."

Len gulped.

Meiko without a knife: _deadly_. Meiko with a knife: _lethal_.

Meiko knew some martial arts from Japan. She did visit Japan often since it's her original place of birth. Len gave up and walked to the window. You can see the barn from this window. He saw Miku and Rin there, talking. _Don't worry, Rin,_ Len thought, _if she as much harm a single strand of your hair, I don't care if I get hurt. I will save you._

* * *

"What is it that you want to talk about, Miku?" Rin asked Miku who was leaning against the wall of the barn.

"I want to tell you a little story," Miku said, her eyes fixed on Rin's. "Do you know who Lily is?"

"Not much. Just the fact that Lily was Len's sister." Rin said.

Miku smirked.

"You're right, but… Lily is much more than that," Miku said. "Let me tell you the whole story from the top."

Rin gulped. Having no idea why she was so nervous.

"A long time ago, I loved to sing. Singing was my favorite hobby. When I sing, I feel like the whole world is mine and mine only. Everything was perfect until one day… I discovered I have adapted a throat cancer."

Miku smiled ruefully.

"It was irreversible. The damage had been done. I could no longer sing, so I thought I should end my life. I was about to, when I met Lily. She was 12 then and I was 10. I remember it well when she held out her hand and said,"

Rin wondered what Lily said.

"_'You have a beautiful voice. Why not sing with me?'_ Then, I said, _'No… I couldn't… I have throat cancer…my voice…will never return to its original self'_. Lily smiled then and helped me stood up. She said, _'Don't worry. If you can't sing anymore… I'll do it for you!'"_

Rin smiled. Lily seems like a good girl, she thought. Another thought that popped up in her head was: so that's why whenever Miku talks, her voice croaks.

"Since then, Lily and I started to sing together. Although my voice will never return to its normal self, I enjoyed singing with her. Her voice was so beautiful, it felt like the world was ours," Miku smiled softly.

"Then, overtime I learned that she had a deadly disease. We only had 2 years to sing and spend time together. Then, right before she died, she gave me a necklace that has a picture of us singing in the little pendant. I treasured it and protected it with my life. Until... until Len destroyed it," Miku said, her eyes filled with tears.

_Why…would Len do that?_ Rin thought.

"When I was eating my lunch in this very place we're standing on, Len came up to me and snatched the necklace off of my neck and crushed it with his foot, in front of my eyes. I cried then and said, _'Why did you do that Len?'_ over and over again, but Len only answered me with his cold gaze and turned away. I have no idea why he did that. Maybe it was because he was jealous of me. Whenever I was around, Lily forgot about him, but I'm sure Lily didn't mean to. That's why I despise him so very much."

Rin was speechless. All this time Rin had always thought of Len as a kind and gentle person. And yet, he could do such horrible things.

Rin felt tears stung her eyes and her throat was dry. _H-how could Len do that?_ Rin thought. Miku stepped in front of Rin and did her sinister pose again. Well, at least Rin thought it looked sinister.

"Hmm...Do you know why Len and his family would be so kind to take you in?" Miku asked.

"Umm... I don't know…" Rin said. It wasn't a lie. She really didn't know why the Kagamine family took her in. Why didn't they just leave her dying in the first place?

"What? You mean they didn't tell you?" Miku asked, shocked; although Rin knew it was a fake expression.

"What do you mean?" Rin asked; genuine curiosity in her voice.

"You and Lily shared the same fate." Miku said.

"Would you please stop talking in riddles?" Rin said; her patience was running out.

"You and Lily, both suffered from heart cancer," Miku said.

"H-how did you—"

"My mom is a doctor that works with Len's mom on you," Miku said.

_What?_ Rin thought, _why didn't Len told me about that? Why didn't he tell me about Lily? Or the fact that he had a sister that suffered from heart cancer?_

"You suffered the same disease as Lily. When Lily had it, she couldn't be helped anymore. That's why when you told Len that you have heart cancer, he immediately told his mother and since then, the Kagamines are determined to save you, because they couldn't save Lily."

_So that's what I am to them, _Rin thought. _I was just a replacement for Lily... _Tears ran down her face._ All this time...all this time I thought they were kind to me because they...loved me. But…I was just a replacement._

"Don't cry Rin... I'm sure they'll love you for who you are...someday…" Miku said.

She looked up to the window and gestured Len to come down.

Len quickly got her message and ran down to the school's entrance while avoiding Meiko. And in n a few seconds, Len was standing beside Miku.

Meiko followed him and was ready to charge, when Miku shooed her away by throwing Meiko's pay far away. "That's your pay. Come to my mansion later and I'll give you your sake," Miku said and Meiko ran for the money.

Len saw Rin trembling with tears and panicked.

"Rin, what's wrong? Did Miku hurt you?"

Miku giggled; a sound that was both horrible and terrifying. She touched Len's shoulder and whispered,

"Did I?" And walked away, leaving them speechless.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Enjoy the next chapter as well!


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** Thank you to **azurex** for pointing out my mistakes! I really appreciate that! Oh and thank you very much to those people who reviewed and added this story to whether their story alert or to their favorites :]

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Vocaloid.

_**/EDIT/: I've edited this fic! This chapter has a **_**lot **_**of differences, but other than that, the editing won't have much effect on the story plot. Enjoy!**_

* * *

**Chapter 4: The Illuminating Truth**

Rin was totally and utterly confused.

She really didn't know what to feel; or to be exact, she couldn't comprehend the mixed-up feelings she was experiencing. Fear of being thrown away or disowned again, sad because she was only a replacement for Lily, angry because Len didn't tell her the real reason they decided to take care of her, but the worst feeling of all, was the fact that she was feeling betrayed.

She thought Len and his parents loved her for who she was.

She thought that when they see her, they'll see Rin, not Lily.

Rin was grateful—_very_ grateful that Len had rescued her and that the Kagamine family decided to take her in. Not to mention that she was grateful because the Kagamine family had home-schooled her and had given her shelter…and a place in a caring family, but all of that were just mere illusions.

When Len and his parents look at her, they see _Lily_; the daughter whom they had failed to save. To add as proof, Rin had great resemblance to Lily: they both can sing, have blond hair and blue eyes too—although Lily's hair was longer than Rin's.

It was no wonder they decided to keep Rin. She…wanted them to love her, as _her_ not _Lily_. How naïve that was.

"Rin, what's wrong?" Len asked; his voice worried and terrified. Rin looked up so that her eyes could meet Len's.

Len was worried and panicked by the sight of Rin's red, swollen and wet eyes.

"Nothing at all," Rin said. She knew this was cruel, but she wanted to blame someone of all the confusion she'd felt.

"Please, Rin. I'm not that stupid. Tell me. Tell me what's wrong."

"Didn't I tell you Len? Nothing's wrong."

"Rin—"

"Len," Rin's voice sounded stern and serious. "_Nothing_ is wrong."

Len sighed. He felt beaten and he wanted to say something else, but the stern tone in Rin's voice stopped him. So instead, he fell quiet.

Then, after a long moment of awkward silence, Len finally spoke up. "It's about Lily isn't it?"

Rin looked away. She bit her lower lip to hold back the stinging tears. Len sighed again.

"If you would be so kind to listen to _my_ version of the story, I would be very glad," Len said.

Rin still bit her lower lip, but the fact that she didn't walk away or talked back meant that she was willing to listen.

Len gave Rin a relieved smile. "When I saw you lying on the ground that rainy night, I decided to take you into the house until the rain stopped. But, when I learned that you had no home, I already decided that I would take you into the house. You will be my responsibility.

Then…I learnt that you had a heart cancer, and I told Mom about that, hoping she could at the same time give shelter to you and heal you. Lily had never even crossed my mind. When Mom knew that you had the same illness as Lily, she was determined to save you, so that the guilt she felt for all these years because she was unable to save Lily would go away. Overtime, we've grown fond of you. You are much more important to us than Lily. You want to know why?"

Rin eased her teeth away from her lip, and turned to look at Len. Len smiled.

"Because you are much more _alive_…you broke rules; like not getting your medicines, you're kinder than Lily, you have a bigger sense of curiosity…and above all…"

Rin's expression softened. Her eyes were as dazzling as ever.

"You stood up for others and you don't even care if you get hurt."

Rin suddenly remembered that earlier, she had taken the punch from Kaito that was originally for Len. Rin looked up, her eyes filled with curiosity. "So, what you're trying to say is…"

Len sighed and hit his forehead with his palm. Rin laughed.

"I get it, I get it. You're trying to say that you and your parents love me for who I am, right?" Rin asked, joy and happiness in her voice.

"Yes and…"

Rin drew her eyebrows together in a sign of confusion. "And?"

"I'm also trying to say, that when we see you, we see _Rin_, not—and never in a million years—_Lily._" Len said. Then, added, "Oh and Lily is much more mature and lady-like than you."

Rin grinned. "Oh, you're asking for it."

"Oh? Please, don't hurt me…" Len said sarcastically.

Rin got the joke and punched him lightly on the shoulder.

* * *

Everything was going well.

Rin and Len were laughing and throwing snow balls at each other, and even though they knew it looked childish, they didn't care.

Yes, everything was going smoothly; until Rin felt the same throbbing pain in her chest like 5 years ago, when she crumpled on the ground like an autumn leaf caught in a storm.

She coughed up blood, staining the white, angel-like snow with red. Rin cupped her mouth with both of her hands and fell to the ground, taking in painful, bloody breaths.

Len ran up to her side. "No…no….don't let this happen again..." he begged and picked up Rin like he did 5 years ago.

"Hold on Rin!" Len said, running to the barn to get Excalibur.

Rin wanted to say, _'Please Len, I don't want this to stop. Let's go back and laugh again',_ but she couldn't.

She wanted time to stop and for once, she felt like the world was theirs and theirs alone. For once, she finally knew what Miku meant by _'I felt the world was ours'_.

The weak girl wanted it to go on forever; although she knew, she knew…it simply cannot be.

Blood ran from her mouth and color drained from her face, leaving her pale and mummy-like.

"Don't die on me Rin. Please, don't leave me. If you hold on, I promise we'll sing together again. Please, please, please…" Len begged as he rode down the road, only mere minutes away from his mansion.

A tear dropped down his face and it fell onto Rin's face. Rin wanted to comfort him and say, _'Don't cry Len. I'm still here…' _and 'you _better keep your promise. I'll be looking forward to singing together with you…',_ but blood clogged up her throat and she kept on coughing blood onto her once spotless white coat.

Rin felt her eyelids became heavy and her body refused to take in breaths. She didn't want to hurry Len, but time was running out; rapidly.

She tugged on Len's coat and opened her mouth to say_, 'Len, please hurry up…I can't breathe...and... I can't feel my fingers anymore…' _but when she opened her mouth, only blood came out. Although Rin didn't say anything, Len got the message. He urged Excalibur to run faster and the horse obediently did as he was told.

"_Run, boy, run!_" Len ordered.

Excalibur neighed and ran even faster. So fast that everything around them was just a blur. "Rin, hold on! We're going to speed up!"

Rin felt a tear fell down from her cheek. She couldn't tighten her grip. Her fingers were deadly numb.

* * *

A few seconds later, they arrived at the mansion. A once 20 minute journey, turned out to be a 15 second marathon.

Len left Excalibur in the front yard and he carried Rin into the house. With Rin in his hands, he used his right foot to bang the front door open. With hurried steps, Len tried to reach Rin's room with her in his hands. You might think that Len's task was hard, but actually, it wasn't. Rin was light, after all.

Len checked his watch. 5:30 P.M. 2 hours and 30 more minutes until Mom and Dad get home.

_What should I do?_ Len thought. _What could I do?_

He did what he could only do: First-Aid.

Len grabbed a small towel and showered it with warm water. He also got a glass filled with warm water. With the small towel in his hand and the glass in the other, he went into Rin's room. When he reached Rin's room, he hurriedly went to her side and he was surprised, seeing that…

Rin had stopped coughing blood. In fact, she had stopped _breathing._

"Rin?" Len asked. The question was left unanswered. "Rin?" he repeated. Again, there was no answer.

Panicked and grief-stricken, Len pulled Rin's nose and chin away from each other, took a deep breath, pressed his lips onto Rin's, and blew. After he blew the air away from his lungs and into Rin's, he put his right hand on top of his left and pushed Rin's chest according to a rhythm. _1-2-1-2 _he counted.

But Rin didn't react.

He pushed aside his fears and worries and took in another deep breath. He pushed his lips onto Rin's, blew and gave her chest another push. This time, Rin coughed up more blood and sat up. Mentally sighing with relief, Len pushed the warm towel to Rin's lips so that the blood stains won't stain the blanket.

After Rin stopped coughing, Len took the glass and put it near Rin's lips. Rin took the glass and sipped the warm water, bit by bit.

She swallowed the very last drop of the water and gave Len the glass. Weakly, she smiled and said,

"Thank you."

Len nodded. "How are you feeling?"

"Better. But, my fingers feel numb."

Len checked Rin's fingers and saw that the tips of her fingers were white, with a hint of bluish-purple.

_Frostbite_.

Fortunately, it wasn't a serious level of frostbite, but nonetheless, it needs to be treated. "Don't move or touch your fingers with anything Rin. I'll be back shortly," Len said and went upstairs.

_I have to be fast, _Len thought. _I couldn't let her lose her fingers._

* * *

"Put on these warm clothes. Just put them over what you're wearing now," Len commanded. He gave Rin a thick, wool sweater, a hat suitable for winter, Rin's usual earmuffs and scarf, Rin's cleaned boots, and gloves. He also brought another sheet of thick, warm blanket with him.

Rin did as she was told to and put on everything that Len told her to wear. She looked like an over-sized penguin. Trying to hold back a laugh, Len covered Rin with another sheet of blanket and gave her 2 glasses of warm milk, and 3 glasses of warm water.

"Um…Isn't that a _bit_ too much, Len?" Rin asked; shocked from the large quantities of liquids he had brought.

"I don't know…I'm not an expert on this kind of stuff. This is more of Mom's area of expertise. All I know is that you've got to drink lots of warm non-alcoholic liquids and you've got to be warm. Oh, that reminds me!" Len said as he stood up and lit up a fire in the fireplace. After lighting up a fire, he glanced at his wrist watch. 6:45 P.M. About 1 hour and 15 more minutes until Mom and Dad get home.

When Len got back to his chair beside the bed, he saw Rin had finished 2 glasses of warm water and 1 glass of warm milk.

To top it all off, Rin is currently drinking her warm milk. A few seconds later, Rin finished drinking the milk and held up the last glass filled with warm water. Len grabbed her right arm and chuckled. "Not so fast, Rin. Wait another 5 minutes until you drink this one," Len said, taking the glass form Rin's hand.

"I can't help it. Suddenly, I feel so thirsty," Rin said, cheeks blushing from embarrassment. Len laughed, though he felt a bit guilty he took the glass away. After making up his mind, he decided to give Rin the glass back.

"Alright, here you go. But not so fast, okay?"

"Okay," Rin said and drank the whole thing down slowly. Then, suddenly Rin's eyelids felt heavier than usual. She felt it flutter and her vision blurred.

"You better get some sleep, Rin," Len said as he took the glass away from Rin and pushed her down gently onto the bed.

"Yeah, maybe I—"She wasn't finished talking until her eyelids fell, shutting down her vision. Len smiled.

"Len, where are you dear?"

Len heard his Mom's voice and got out of Rin's room, checking his watch. 7:35 P.M. _Well, Mom's back early, _Len thought. He raced down the hall and found his Mom standing by the doorway of the front entrance.

"You're home early, Mom. Welcome home," Len said.

"What's Excalibur doing in the front yard?" Mrs. Kagamine asked, ignoring her son's warm welcome. _Oh no,_ Len thought. _I left him in the front yard!_

"Um…I was in a hurry when I got home from school, so I forgot about Excalibur and left him in the front yard," Len said. Well, technically, he wasn't lying because he _was_ in a hurry then.

"What's the rush?" Mrs. Kagamine asked. "You never forgot to put Excalibur in the barn before, even though you _were_ in a hurry. So, what's so important that needed you to rush?"

"I forgot that I left Rin at home, and I forgot to give her the afternoon medicine. So I thought that I'd hurry back and give her the medicine." Len lied. He couldn't afford to waste time to think up a lie; that would've been suspicious. And so, he said the first thing that had come to mind.

"Hmm…" Mrs. Kagamine wasn't really buying Len's lie.

"Well, if you don't need me now…I'll be putting Excalibur back to the barn."

"No need, dear. I already did it for you. Well, next time, please be more responsible…okay, Len?"

_I can't believe it,_ Len thought, _she's actually buying it!_

"Yes, Mom," Len said.

"Well then. I'll be in my room if you need me," Mrs. Kagamine said. She kissed Len's forehead as she walked by.

After making sure his mom was gone, Len walked back to Rin's room, still amazed that his Mom bought his lie. _Or did she?_

* * *

Len opened the door to Rin's room and found his Mom there, sitting beside Rin. Oh no, Len thought. Mrs. Kagamine rubbed Rin's forehead fondly. She then turned her gaze towards Len.

"How did Rin get frostbite?" Mrs. Kagamine asked—no, _commanded._

"She—"

"Don't forget Len, you'll never be able to fool me," Mrs. Kagamine said. Len sighed and formed his hands into fists.

"Alright, I'll tell you the truth." Len said and told her the truth from the very top, except the part where Kaito put his arms around Rin's waist and the part where Len hugged Rin. Oh and, except the part where Miku and Meiko _threatened_ them with pocket knives.

"So, you managed to save Rin all by yourself?" Mrs. Kagamine said; impressed.

"Yes, well, I think I did," Len answered sheepishly.

"You did, dear. If you didn't give her CPR and the frostbite treatment, she might've gotten worst."

"Well, I did what I thought was right."

Mrs. Kagamine stood up and hugged Len fondly. "I'm proud of you, dear. Since this very day, you have never cared for anyone that much. Even me," she said and rustled Len's hair, then left, closing the door behind her.

* * *

_**December 19th 1889, London**_

Rin woke up two days later, her head throbbing with pain. "Ouch," she whined, "My head feels like it's going to explode." Then, her stomach churned, howling with starvation. Flashes of food, such as bread, salad, oranges and sandwiches, popped in her head, making her drool even more.

"Bet you're hungry."

Rin turned to where the voice came from and smiled as the figure brought sandwiches, oranges and 2 cups of warm milk with him. "A little."

Len chuckled softly and placed the small, metal table on top of Rin's bed. He spread the thin legs of the table, each at one side of her body. "Nothing better than breakfast in bed," Len said. "Well, what are you waiting for? Eat up."

Rin happily obliged. She took one of the two sandwiches on the small table and ripped it open savagely. Len did the same, albeit gentler.

It was Rin's favorite; a tuna sandwich. She gobbled the feast down with lightning speed. In a matter of seconds, Rin already finished her half of the breakfast; one tuna sandwich and orange, and some nice, warm milk. Len already finished his banana and sandwich and was currently sipping the milk down, tasting and enjoying it until the very last drop.

"Thank you very much Len," Rin said, with a satisfying smile across her face.

"No problem," Len answered and took the table away from the bed. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Hurry back," Rin said. There was something she wanted to tell Len. Or to be precise, she wanted to remind him of something he had promised her two days ago.

When Len came into the room, Rin immediately spoke up,

"Len, do you remember the promise you made with me?"

Len's face contorted in confusion. "What promise?"

Rin sighed. Sometimes, Len could be so slow. "You said _'Don't die on me Rin. Please, don't leave me. If you hold on, I promise we'll sing together again.'_" A smile curled up Rin's lips. "Then, you said _'Please, please, please…' _remember? You begged me to stay alive _and_ you made a promise to me. Isn't that a _little_ too big to forget?"

Len's cheeks gave out a slight blush from guilt. How could he forget?

"Aren't you a man of your words?" Rin said, teasing him.

"Yes, I am a man of my words," Len said, cheeks still scarlet, but he held her gaze on Rin's eyes stubbornly. "Do you want to sing now?"

"Yes!" Rin said, practically screaming with excitement and joy. _Before it's too late, _she added to herself.

"Let's go then," Len said, turning his back so he could open the door. Rin raced after him, practically skipping her way to Len's room.

* * *

"What are we going to sing today?" Rin asked energetically.

Len took out the same yellow folder as before and brought them over to the piano. He opened the lid of the piano, took some music sheets decorated with notes, and put them on the music sheet holder of the piano. "Actually, I was thinking we should sing a new song I wrote. It's a duet," Len said and sat down.

"What's the song called?" Rin asked, energetic as ever.

"Adolescence," Len answered, barely succeeding to contain the pride in his voice.

"What's it about?" Rin babbled.

"You'll see," Len asked. "Now, come here and listen to the notes."

Rin obliged and listened to the notes Len played. It was a beautiful work of art; to put it simply, a masterpiece.

"You'll sing this part like this," Len said, and began singing the lyrics. Rin imitated the way Len sang. "Perfect," Len complimented.

Rin felt her heart flutter from embarrassment.

"Ah, be careful when you get here, Rin," Len said, pointing to a specific part of the music sheet. "When you reach this part, go faster. Like this," Len said and sang the lyric. Again, Rin imitated the way Len sang like a mirror reflection. "That's right. You're getting this perfectly. Oh, and your part of the lyrics are the one in _bold letters_, okay?"

"Okay," Rin answered.

"Good. Do you want to try?" Len asked. Rin nodded enthusiastically and Len started pressing the keys.

Rin opened her mouth at her cue and sang,

**"The promise that the two of us will always dance together**

**is turned into a lie by my growing bosom.**

**With our blond hair reflected in the mirror,**

**we take turns combing for each other."**

It was Len's turn now and so Len opened his mouth and sang,

_"We used to be rocked in the same bed._

_The two of us were connected with our hands held together."_

Rin's melodious voice then sang,

**"Now an unrecognized face is reflected, and the whispering voice deeper.**

**I will shatter that mirror with this hammer in my hand."**

_"Tearing down our built toy castle into pieces,_

_our creaking bones are the bell that announces the end to the knight and the princess._

_In the distorted mirror, with hands folded, our fingers are not of the same length."_

**"From now on we will sleep in separate beds?**

**You whisper to me "good night."**

**As you turn the doorknob and open the door,**

**I jump to that sound and grab the edge of your clothes."**

_"I kiss your extended fingers,_

_in that instant an impulse runs through my spine."_

**"Don't turn off the light if I'm sleeping alone at night.**

**As I scream "no," I will pound my pillow with my right hand."**

_"Saying things like "I'm scared of ghosts," you're such a baby, my princess._

_Your watery eyes, however, are hinting to me something different."_

**"Our private time unknown to daddy and mommy,**

**is it finally over? It's a faraway dream."**

_"Your body temperature, through the thin blanket,_

_breaks open my lock."_

**"As we silently lock the door,**

**our gazing pupils are looking for an answer."**

_"I erase my childish excuse together with the light._

_If I can no longer pick up your hair, then I will also tell lies."_

**"Stopping time, we now embrace tightly,**

**as we try to synchronize our ticking heartbeats."**

_"With your melting hot breath and hugging warmth,_

_I won't make any further move. It's as if I'm your knight."_

Len pressed a few keys afterwards and stopped.

_We sang it perfectly. Never in my life would I've thought there would be someone who could sing with me so well, so…perfectly,_ Rin thought.

Len closed the lid of the piano and slid the music sheet back to the folder. He looked at Rin, cheeks blushing. "Sorry Rin. I pushed you into singing something like that," Len said.

Rin didn't get what Len was saying; I mean, the song was totally good and the tempo too, but then… Rin realized what Len was talking about. The song…the song was about…well, you know what I mean.

Rin blushed; her face was red. "No! I-it's fine! I loved the song, and besides I insisted on singing a song, I'm sorry," Rin said apologetically.

Silence fell over both of them; until Mrs. Kagamine's entrance broke the ice.

"Len, dear, I need you to go over to the bakery and—" Mrs. Kagamine abruptly stopped when she saw Rin. "Um… am I interrupting something?"

Len and Rin both shook their head in unison.

"Great. As I was saying, I need you to go over the bakery and give this to Luka," Mrs. Kagamine said, shoving Len a brown paper bag that was shut off by rolling the ends and taping it. On the front side of the paper bag, a note was attached to it, with a cursive writing that reads: "Luka".

"Okay Mom, sure thing," Len answered.

"Great. Oh, and tell her _'Good luck' _when you give that paper bag to her? Say it's from me," Mrs. Kagamine said. Len nodded. Good luck? Len thought, Good luck for what?

"Can I come with Len, Mrs. Kagamine? I want to do something too," Rin begged. Mrs. Kagamine fell silent, choosing her decisions wisely. "Please? I promise I won't do anything stupid," Rin added. Mrs. Kagamine slowly looked up, her bright blue eyes shining in the afternoon light illuminating from Len's window.

"Alright, but you must promise me you won't tire yourself okay?"

"Okay," Rin replied, smiling broadly.

"Is it okay with you Len?" Mrs. Kagamine asked, turning to Len.

"Huh? Oh, y-yeah sure, no problem," Len replied. It was obvious that he was still feeling guilty and embarrassed for having Rin sing that with him. As proof, Len's cheeks were still blushing a bit.

"Then it's settled. Be back before dinner, alright?" Mrs. Kagamine asked, mostly to Rin.

Rin and Len both nodded.

Little did Rin know that she was going to break the promise she'd made with Mrs. Kagamine very, very soon.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Another chapter down! I'm so happy!


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:**I do not own Vocaloid.

_**/EDIT/: I've edited this fic! This chapter has a **_**lot **_**of differences, but other than that, the editing won't have much effect on the story plot. Enjoy!**_

* * *

**Chapter 5: Missing Person**

"Rin, are you sure you want to come with me?" Len asked as he adjusted the saddle and clip-on bag to Excalibur's back.

"Positive. I'll be bored to death if I stayed in the house," Rin said. "Besides, I'm curious to see this Luka you've been talking about."

"Why don't you just read books? I know some of the books in dad's library surely have caught your eye," Len said as he put the brown paper bag into the clip-on bag.

Rin's face was filled with confusion.

"What is it Len? Why do you not want me to come with you that much? Is it because you don't want me to meet this Luka?" Rin asked. And yes, she knew this was childish of her, but she couldn't help but feel…jealous? Wait. Why was she _jealous_ of someone she had never _met_ before?

Len sighed. His face showed that he was hurt. "No, it's not that I don't want you to meet Luka. In fact, I'll be glad that you befriend her. But, I don't want you to come because…" Len turned around to meet Rin's blue eyes. "I don't want to see you dying right in front of my eyes again."

Rin suddenly felt her cheeks and nose burn. She suddenly felt guilty that she hurt Len's feelings, and the fact that she lost to a terrible green monster called _'jealousy'_. "Sorry Len…I didn't mean to…"

"Save it for later, Rin. I know you didn't mean it," Len said, his face an expressionless mask. He gestured for Rin to hop on onto Excalibur. "Hop on."

Rin did as she was told to and hopped onto Excalibur. Len guided both Rin and the horse out of the mansion. He locked the gate to the mansion and hopped onto Excalibur.

"Len…I'm really sorry…I didn't mean to…"

"I know, Rin. No need to say sorry."

Rin nodded and looked straight forward. "It's just that I felt…jealous, Len. Jealous that you didn't want me to come with you so that…I don't know… but my heart said you don't want me to come so that you could spend time together with Luka…"

Len managed to muster a short laugh over the wind. "That's ridiculous Rin. Why would I want to do that? Luka is _just_ a childhood friend, someone important to me, nothing more."

Rin felt hear heart ache and throb. She thought it was her sickness again, but it wasn't. It was the feeling jealousy. Man, she hated that feeling. Why does she need to be so jealous? Didn't Len say that she was just a childhood friend? _But he also said that Luka was someone important to him,_ the green jealousy monster inside Rin silently added.

* * *

The bell rang in a catchy tone when Len and Rin came in. Len took Rin's coat, earmuffs and scarf and hanged them on the coat hanger. He did the same with his own belongings.

"Welcome!" Luka said as she left her working station and ran to Len. The bakery store just opened—it was 8 A.M in the morning—so, there were no customers yet. She shot out in the air and hugged Len enthusiastically. "I've got some good news to tell you, Len!"

"That's great, Luka," Len said, gently breaking apart the hug. Jealousy was starting to eat away Rin's heart when Rin pushed it away. _I am_ not _going to be jealous so easily,_ Rin thought. _I won't ever lose to you again, dear jealousy monster._

Len gestured his right hand towards Rin. "Oh and Luka, meet Rin. Rin, meet Luka," he said as he gestured towards Luka. Luka smiled broadly.

"Hi there, Rin. You must be the one L—" Luka hadn't finished talking when Len cupped Luka's mouth with his hand. Len whispered something to Luka's ear and Luka nodded reluctantly.

Len gently tore away his hand away from Luka's mouth. "Um… As I was _saying,_ you must be the one Len saved, right? He's quite the hero type," Luka said as she dusted her skirt.

"And you must be Luka, Len's childhood friend," Rin said as she shook Luka's hand.

"Yes, I've known Len since he was born. You see, my mom and his mom are great friends, while my dad and his dad are business partners. You could say, it was fate that brought us together," Luka joked and hit Len's right arm in a friendly way. Len and Luka laughed. Rin faked a laugh, since she felt she was being left out. _Stop,_ Rin thought. _Why do I feel this way? Len is just my friend…right?_

"Oh and Rin, did you know that Len once thought he could fly, and he tried to jump off this very roof?" Luka asked as she pointed up towards the ceiling. Rin shook her head. "He tried to jump off the roof, and did you know that I had to practically drag him down the stairs while he cried?" Luka said breathlessly. Again, Rin shook her head.

"Please don't bring that up again, Luka," Len pleaded. "What's wrong with thinking you could fly when you were 5 years old?"

"_Thinking_ you could fly is perfectly fine when you're still a kid, but _trying_ to fly is a whole different matter," Luka argued back.

Len grumbled as he felt beaten and embarrassed. Rin couldn't hold back her laugh. "Well anyway, I've got something to give you," Len said, trying to change the embarrassing subject, but failed miserably.

"Tell me more Luka!" Rin said energetically; all the jealousy gone from her heart. Luka nodded and walked closer to Rin, a broad, teasing smile on her face.

"Oh, and did you know that once, Len thought he could breathe underwater? He once dipped his head for a full 5 minute until I came to play in his mansion and carried him back to his room. He passed out and didn't wake up until 2 days later."

"Really? What made Len think he could breathe underwater?" Rin asked, struggling to keep herself under control.

"He saw me holding my breath for a full 12 minute underwater," Luka said proudly.

"That's amazing, Luka!" Rin praised; genuine admiration in her voice.

"Thank you, Rin," Luka said. "Well, anyway, Len though I could breathe underwater since I held my breath for so long, so he thought that he could do the same too."

"Who would've thought Len could be so innocent and stupid?" Rin joked. Both women laughed uncontrollably as Luka continued on with her _'Most embarrassing days for Len'_ story. _It's good to see them get along so well, _Len thought. _But I wish they'd change their topic…_

"Well, anyway, as I was saying, Mom wanted me to give you this," Len said as he showed the bag to Luka. At the mention of Len's Mom, Luka immediately stopped talking with Rin.

"Wait a second, okay Rin?" Luka said. Rin nodded and Luka took the bag from Len's hands.

"Oh, and she told me that when I gave that bag to you, I have to say that she said _'Good luck'_. Don't know why though." Len said. For a second there, Rin could see Luka blushed. _But why?_ Rin thought.

"Thank you, Len," Luka said, a smile upon her face. "Oh and say thank you to Mrs. Kagamine for me too, okay Len?"

"Sure, no problem," Len said. As he said that, the bell of the store rang and customers flooded the bakery.

"Welcome!" Luka said, briefly turning towards the customers then back at Rin and Len. "I'll be going now."

"Okay then, see you later, Luka," Len said.

"See you later, Luka. The next time I see you, I hope we'll be able to talk about that again," Rin said and flashed Luka a warm smile. Luka returned the smile.

"Of course, Rin! Oh and Len, I'll tell you about the good news I have later, okay?" Luka said. "Bye!" Luka then ran to the payment counter where a few customers were already waiting for her.

"Bye!" Rin said as she waved goodbye to Luka. Luka did the same and then returned her attention to the customers.

* * *

"Luka is really, really nice!" Rin said while enjoying the view as Excalibur walked back to the mansion. She couldn't believe that she lost to the jealousy monster before. I mean, Luka was such a nice person.

"Yeah, she is. She's been that way ever since we were kids," Len said.

"Didn't know you were such an innocent and stupid little kid back then, Len," Rin said teasingly.

"Oh please, all little kids are innocent and stupid," Len argued.

"Yes, that's true, but you were no ordinary innocent little kid."

Len's face turned into a confused look. "What do you mean? All kids are the same."

"What I meant was, the thing that separated you from other kids was the fact that you were totally brave," Rin complimented. "Not all 5 year olds dare to jump off a roof, nor dip their head underwater for a full 5 minute. Although as kids, they must instinctively know the line between bravery and insanity."

"Are you trying to say I was insane?" Len said.

"No, Len. I'm trying to say for a 5 year old, you were extraordinarily brave," Rin said as she flashed Len a smile.

Len returned the smile. "Are you trying to say that I was brave _only_ when I was little? What about now?"

"Um… I don't know…Are you?" Rin said teasingly.

"Of course I am."

"Oh really? What makes you—" Rin hadn't finished talking when something caught her eye. "What's that?"

"What do you mean?" Len asked as he stopped Excalibur.

"That," Rin said as she pointed to a little poster taped onto the wall of a house.

"Oh, you mean the missing person poster. Why do you ask?"

"Wait. So you mean the person on that poster is missing? What happens when someone found them?" Rin asked back, ignoring Len's question.

"Yes," Len said. "Usually, the person who could find the missing person on a poster gets rewarded by the people looking for the missing person."

"If the poster's still up, does that mean the missing person is still missing?" Rin asked. She was curious about the little poster. In all of her 17 years, she had never seen a missing person poster before. Since she was kicked out when she was 8 years old, she always stayed in her little house—an old, worn-out cardboard box—and only got out when she needed to sing so she could make money.

Then, for the past 5 years, she had always stayed in the mansion and rarely got out. That's why she barely knows about the outside world beyond her concrete prison.

"Yes. If the poster's still up, that means the missing person is still missing. On the other hand, if the poster is torn down, it can either mean the missing person showed up, or the missing person is believed to be dead," Len said.

"So does that mean the missing person on that poster is still missing?"

"I think so, yeah. Can we go now?" Len asked.

"Hmm…" Rin muttered as she hopped down and walked towards the poster.

"Rin, wait!" Len said. He hopped down from Excalibur's back and guided the horse with him towards the poster. When he reached Rin's side, he was confused when he saw Rin's face shocked with disbelief. "What's wrong, Rin?"

"It can't be… How…?" Rin muttered. Her eyes wide with shock mixed with disbelief and worry.

"What do you mean?"

Rin pointed to the poster with her right index finger. "The missing person…"

"Do you know her?" Len asked.

"The missing person… She's…she's…" Rin said, ignoring Len's question.

"Rin, please just tell me what you're trying to say," Len pleaded.

"She's my mother."

* * *

"Mother?" Len asked.

"Yes, she's my mother. Both Mom and Dad threw—I mean, _disowned_ me 9 years ago," Rin said, unable to hide the hatred and sadness from her voice.

"Yes, you've told me that. But…you never told me _why_ they did that." He found the thought of parents disowning their own child disgusting and horrible.

"There's a reason why I didn't tell you much about my life, Len. By telling you that my parents disowned me is enough. I couldn't bear to think about that anymore," Rin said. Her eyes still locked on the long, curly-haired blond woman with blue eyes in the poster.

Len felt a pang of guilt. "Sorry, Rin…I shouldn't have asked you about that."

Rin turned to look at Len. She gave him a flash of her smile. "Don't worry, Len. In time, I'll tell you about my life, but not now, and certainly not here." She looked around. Dozens of people were crowding the street. Len got the message. Rin didn't want to tell him about her life _here_, in a place crowded with people.

"Well then, shall we go?" Len asked Rin. Although, he could already guess what Rin might say next.

"No. Even though it is true that my parents disowned me, I just couldn't ignore this poster and act like I've never seen it in my life," Rin said; her eyes a dazzling blue. "I will find her, Len."

Len smiled. "I knew you'd say that. I will happily oblige, Rin, I really will, but not today. Mom and Dad are waiting for us in the mansion. If we go and look for your mother, we won't be sure when we'll be back," Len reasoned.

"That's true…so when do we look for my Mom?" Rin asked.

"How about…tomorrow? Dad's going out of town because he has a meeting, and of course, Mom's accompanying him." Len said, matter-of-factly.

"When will they be back?" Rin asked.

"The day after tomorrow," Len answered shortly.

"Then it's settled. Tomorrow we'll go to my…previous _'house' _and talk to Dad. I'm sure he'll supply us with some information about this," Rin said as she tore the poster off the wall and fold it neatly into her pocket.

* * *

"Why do you want to find her, Rin?" Len asked as he closed the door to Rin's room behind him.

"What are you saying?" Rin asked.

"Why do you want to find your mother when she ruthlessly disowned you?"

Rin sighed as she dropped herself onto her bed. "You're right. Why should I bother to save a person like that?" Rin turned her eyes to meet Len's. "That's what I asked myself a million times, Len."

"Then, why did you?"

"I couldn't help it. After all, she is my mother. She gave birth to me—even though she only did it because of a certain fortune-teller, but she gave birth to me anyway," Rin asked. Then, she smiled. "If she hadn't given birth to me, I would never get to meet you, Len."

Len returned the smile. _She's too nice,_ Len thought. _Unlike me…_

"Ah! That reminds me! What if I tell you everything about my life and you tell me yours?" Rin said. "Tell me why you destroyed Miku's necklace, tell me everything, and I'll do the same."

Len took a moment to consider before he finally nodded.

"And no lying. I won't lie if you don't," Rin said.

"Alright then, I won't lie. I promise," Len said as he crossed his index finger with his middle finger behind his back.

"Ah-ah," Rin said while wiggling her index finger at every syllable. "Hold up your palms. Put them in the air so I could see them. Promise to me you won't lie. Give me your word," Rin commanded, "and I'll do the same."

Len sighed. _How did she know?_ Len thought. He held up his palms high in the air. "I will not lie, I promise you. You can have my word," he said.

"Okay, I believe you," Rin said satisfaction dripping from her voice.

"Your turn, I believe," Len said as he lowered his arms.

"Okay," Rin said as she lifted both her palms in the air. "I will not lie when I tell you my story, I promise. You can have my word."

"So who'll go first?" Len asked when Rin had lowered her palms.

"I will," Rin said.

"Okay then. Go on," Len said as he sat on the chair next to Rin's bed.

"Right," Rin said and shifted in the bed. "A long time ago, back when Mom was pregnant, Mom met a fortune-teller. She was on her way to get an abortion; she didn't want to keep me then."

"Why? I thought mothers are supposed to _want_ children," Len asked.

"My _'mother_' didn't want to keep me because she thought children are a waste of time and money," Rin answered, unable to contain the anger and sadness in her voice.

"That's…horrible," Len muttered.

"After that, the fortune-teller called out to Mom but Mom ignored the fortune-teller. Her resolution was weak, because when the fortune-teller said, loud enough for Mom to hear, _'I see you are pregnant, and I see that you want to get an abortion because children are a waste of time and money, correct? Come closer to me, so that I could tell you your future. A future filled with fame and wealth.' _My Mom stopped walking and nodded to the old woman—the fortune-teller—and went into the alleyway."

Len was intrigued by the story. This was no ordinary tale, after all.

"Then, the fortune-teller said_ 'Don't get an abortion. Don't do it, because the child you are carrying in there…' _and the fortune-teller pointed to Mom's stomach with her long-nailed _finger '…is the source of your fortune.'_" Rin imitated the fortune-teller by pointing to Len's stomach.

"Go on," Len said; interested in what might happen next.

"My Mom gave the fortune-teller a confused look, and then the fortune-teller laughed and said, _'Your daughter is going to be extremely talented in singing. You could use that talent to gain your fortune.'_ By the word _'fortune' _my Mom did as the fortune-teller told her to and kept me ever since. Well, I guess I owe that fortune-teller too," Rin said.

"I guess you did. I hope we get to meet the fortune-teller someday and you could repay her back." Len said sarcastically.

"It turned out that the fortune-teller was right," Rin said, ignoring Len's sarcastic comment.

"I _am_ talented in singing ever since I was a little girl, and both my parents used me as their source of fortune. When I was a little girl, I didn't mind letting my parents use me; mostly because I didn't understand that they used me for their own good then. They used to give me candy and showered me with compliments when I finished my performance. Then, as I grew older, I found out that they only used me as their puppet; a puppet made to gain money for their own use." Rin played with the hem of her long sleeve.

Len nodded, and kept listening intently on every word Rin said.

"I was fine with it, as long as they gave me shelter and showered me with love; even if it was _fake_ love. But then, I grew very ill at the age of 7 and both my parents struggled to keep me alive; their money-making puppet. As time flew by, they gave up on healing me because I used up a lot of their money. And so, they disowned me and kicked me out of the house at the age of 8."

"So, you've been independent ever since you were little, huh?" Len asked.

"Yes, I was independent. I looked for my own money and shelter. Everything was great; I had enough money to buy food and drink and a few set of clothes. But, the storm 5 years ago destroyed everything I had."

"You mean everything? Like clothes and money?" Len asked. He never knew why Rin passed out on the street, after all.

"Yes. Every single thing I owned, I placed it inside my little sanctuary. I rarely got out of my little house, so I placed my belongings there. I guess I was wrong to put them all there," Rin said. She looked deep into Len's blue eyes and smiled. "But you know what? I was thankful that the storm came."

Len gave Rin a puzzled look. "Why?"

"I was thankful, because it had led me to you. Or what had led you to me, Len," Rin said.

"Well then, I guess you owe God one too," Len said, a playful smile painted on his face.

"Yeah, I guess I do," Rin said. "Okay, now it's your turn to tell your tale."

"Alright," Len said. He looked a bit nervous. "I'll start from the very top."

"Go on," Rin demanded.

"Since I-"

"Rin!" Mr. Kagamine howled, as he barged into Rin's room with a wine in his right hand.

"What is it, Mr. Kagamine?" Rin was a bit tired of seeing Mr. Kagamine in his drunken state.

"Sing for me," Mr. Kagamine said, swaying to and fro. He was obviously drunk.

"Now?" Rin asked. She was a bit annoyed because Mr. Kagamine's drunken state cut Len's story.

"Now, let's go, dear! Up to my library now," Mr. Kagamine said as he swayed to and fro towards the stairs.

Rin whined. "Just a minute, Len…I'll be back shortly."

"No need to rush," Len said, hiding his relief from Rin.

"See you," Rin said as she followed Mr. Kagamine out the door.

Len sighed when Rin was out of earshot. "That was close…"

Len stood up and went out of Rin's room. He walked into his room, closed the door behind him and slid down the door, sitting on the carpeted floor. "She doesn't need to know about my past. I don't want her to know…not when I'm not sure if she trusts me or not."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Hope you enjoyed it :]


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Vocaloid.

_**/EDIT/: I've edited this fic! This chapter has a **_**lot **_**of differences, but other than that, the editing won't have much effect on the story plot. Enjoy!**_

* * *

**Chapter 6: Death Riddles**

_**December 20th 1889, London**_

"Rin, Len, take care okay? We'll be back tomorrow evening," Mrs. Kagamine said and kissed both Len and Rin's foreheads.

"Okay Mom," Len said, and at the same time, Rin said, "Be careful."

With that, Mr. and Mrs. Kagamine went out the door. Rin watched as the Kagamine couple entered the horse carriage and went away, leaving plumes of dirt in their wake. "We should go now."

"Wait. Before we go, did you pack up the things you might need?" Len asked.

"Everything's in this thing," Rin said and patted the black bag slung over her right shoulder.

"What's 'everything'?" Len asked suspiciously.

"A match, an unlit torch, a pen, a pencil, a little notebook, a rope, a scissor, and some banana, oranges and sandwiches for food," Rin listed. She reached into her pocket and gave Len a pocket knife. "Take it. I have a spare one in my pocket."

"Why do we need all that for? We're just going to look for a person, not go in some crazy adventure," Len asked as he took the little knife and slipped it into his pocket.

"Better be safe than sorry, right?" Rin reasoned.

"Maybe…but what are the knives for? It's not like we're going to kill someone right?" Len asked.

Rin stayed quiet. She doesn't know too much about that. I mean, why was her _ex_-Mom missing in the first place? There was a large chance that she was kidnapped. The kidnapper might be dangerous, and they might need something to defend them. Not that Rin's saying they were going to kill a person, but…

"Rin, answer me," Len demanded.

"Len, we won't know until we find out by ourselves, okay? There is a possibility that my mother was kidnapped, so I'm just taking precautions." Rin slid her feet into her white boots. Len did the same.

"Why are you talking like this, Rin? This is not the usual you. You're usually not so suspicious of everything," Len said as he put on his yellow scarf.

"Years of independence were the one that taught me to be ready for anything. There is no such thing as being _too_ careful."

"I guess you're right. Well then, shall we go?" Len asked. _This side of her that's so suspicious of everything…worries me,_ Len thought.

* * *

Rin's mansion was huge, even bigger than Len's. It was a 4-story building build with white marbles. Everything was white except for the huge, wooden double-door and the blood-red roof. There stood two columns of white marble, supporting a smaller roof just above the double-door and about 5 steps leading to the door. The steps were also made to support the huge white columns.

The garden was absolutely marvelous. Even though it was covered with snow, there were still a few winter flowers that bloomed alongside the road leading to the steps, which in turn, led to the door.

There was a tall and huge tree right on the left side of the house.

"Wow…" Len said. He was amazed by the sight he was seeing.

"Just tie Excalibur to the gate," Rin advised.

"What? No barn?" Len asked. His dad said that every rich people have their own barns._ I guess Dad's wrong,_ Len thought.

"Nope," Rin said. "My parents don't like living alongside animals. They think living with animals is for the poor."

_Wow,_ Len thought, _why are Rin's parents so stuck-up and annoying? How could they even have a child as sweet and kind as Rin?_

* * *

Nobody answered.

Rin already knocked the door a lot of times, but nobody answered. Rin thought nobody was in the house, until she saw a figure in the curtains 2-story above. It was unmistakable. The figure belonged to Rin's so-called-dad. Rin recognized that figure anywhere. A figure who used to pick her up and hug her and compliment her on doing a good job after her performance. "Mr. Kagamine, open the door!" Rin knocked on the door again. "It's me, Rin!"

The figure hurried downstairs. From the sound of feet stomping on the floor and the sound of breaking glass, it was obvious that Rin's dad was running to see her; or to shoo her away.

The door opened with a loud bang and the figure known as Rin's dad hugged Rin very, very tightly; practically suffocating her.

Rin's eyes widened in shock. This man could _not_ be her ruthless, cunning, greedy and stingy father.

"Oh, Rin! You came back, my daughter!" Rin's dad—I mean, _former_ dad, didn't show any signs of letting go.

Rin gently broke apart the hug. "Who are you?"

Rin's dad laughed and played with Rin's hair. "I'm your father, silly."

"You _were_ my father. Anyway, I'm here to seek information upon the disappearance of Kagamine Natsumi." Rin said, formally.

Mr. Kagamine Rei's eyes showed that he was hurt and sad to hear his daug—_ex_-daughter's response. "Forgive me for disowning you, Rin. I was a fool and a greedy, stingy, stuck-up man then. I beg your forgiveness, honey. People change."

"Yes, people change, but never memories of the past. Nothing will change the fact that you disowned me," Rin said; her face an expressionless mask. "Nothing will change the fact that you gave up healing your own daughter."

The so-called dad sighed. "Does that mean you won't forgive me?"

"Maybe I will, someday, but certainly not today."

"Okay then," Rin's ex-dad said, and straightened his tie. "I see you both are here to seek information upon the disappearance of my wife. Please, come in and take a seat."

Rin nodded. Both Rin and Len went into the marvelous house and sat in the living room. Rin and Len sat on their own mahogany chairs, next to each other, while Rin's former dad went to the fireplace to light up a fire.

"Rin," Len whispered as Rin's former dad was busy with lighting up a fire. "Why were you so formal with him? How come he changed? Why did he change? He seems nice now, so why were you so cruel to him?"

"First off, I was formal to him because he and I are no longer associated as father and daughter. Second, I have no idea why or how he changed. And lastly, I wasn't cruel to him. He has no right to hug me or call me _'honey'_ or _'daughter'_, because I am not—and no longer am—his daughter."

* * *

"Well, I assume you want to try and find my lovely Natsumi?" Rin's ex-dad asked.

"We're currently working on it, but we need some information or a head-start to where to look for Mrs. Kagamine Natsumi. We are hoping that you could supply us with the information we need, Mr. Kagamine," Rin replied.

"Please, just call me Mr. Rei," Mr. Rei said.

"Alright then, Mr. Rei, will you supply us with some information?" Len asked.

"Certainly…" Mr. Rei trailed off there. He didn't know Len's name, then.

"Len," Len answered.

"Certainly, Len," Mr. Rei said. "First off, I last saw her 3 days ago, a day before she disappeared. On the day before she was gone, she said that she was going to Birmingham to visit a friend. But…I haven't seen her since then."

"Did she say what her friend's name was? Did she say where the address is? What about why she wanted to go there in the first place?" Len asked.

"Her friend's name was…Mrs. Charlotte Buckingham. She said that she wanted to go there because Mrs. Buckingham was sick," Mr. Rei recalled.

"What about the address?" Rin asked.

"Um… I'm sure she gave the address to me… Now…Where did I put it?" Mr. Rei said almost to himself. He stood up from the chair and faced Rin and Len. "I think it's in my chamber. Please excuse me," Mr. Rei said and went upstairs.

"Didn't look like an evil and stingy person to me," Len muttered when Mr. Rei was out of earshot.

A few minutes later, Rin stood up and walked around the room. She traced her fingers along the framed photos of her parents. The photos were filled with her parents and the little version of Rin. "What made them change like that? How…and why?" Rin said to mostly herself.

"Maybe, they realized that what they did was wrong and they changed?" Len suggested.

"Impossible. No one changes that easily, especially my stubborn parents."

"Or maybe they got broke because you weren't there when they needed you to make money for them? Maybe, because they got broke, they realized that what they did was wrong?" Len suggested again.

"Possible, albeit highly unlikely. Without me the money they gained from the company was more than enough for a luxurious style of living like this."

"Then…maybe all of this was a trap? You know…to trap you inside the house so that you could sing for them again?" Len suggested. Rin's eyes widened in shock and she dropped the picture frame she was holding.

"It's a trap," she said, and then the picture frame broke out a terrible sound when it crashed to the polished floor.

Len and Rin rushed out of the living room and both bumped into Mr. Rei. Rin fell on top of Len, while Mr. Rei fell bottom-first on the polished floor and bumped his head on the leg of a table.

"Ouch," Mr. Rei whined, rubbing the back of his head. Rin stood up and helped Len up. After Len maintained his ground, both Rin and Len ran for the door. Unfortunately, the double-door was locked.

Rin gave Len a worried and terrified look.

* * *

"I knew you'd be suspicious of me, Rin. I knew you'd hate me so much to have thought that all of this was a trap. So, on my way upstairs, I managed to lock the front door and the back door." Mr. Rei said as he stood up and dusted his suit.

"So this is a trap," Rin said, unable to contain the fear and anger in her voice.

"No, no. You think I would go to all this trouble just to trap you, Rin? My wife's disappearance is real. I changed, Rin. We both did; me and my wife."

"Why…why did you change?" Rin asked.

"We've changed for the better. People say that my wife and I were ruthless and disgusting. They said that we were heartless because we disowned an 8 year old child. We realized what we did was wrong, Rin.

We wanted you back, but we knew that you would never forgive us. And so, when my wife had given birth to a boy, your little brother, we decided we would change and let our son enjoy his life. We tried to change then, we _really_ tried, Rin. But, somehow we were tempted to gamble our son for a few thousand pounds and lost."

Rin's eyes widened in shock and horror. "I had a brother…and you gambled him for a few thousand pounds?" Rin snapped.

"Our son…he had such beautiful eyes. He had a mixture of dark blue, light blue and a hint of violet and dark purple in his eyes. Oh, it was so beautiful… When you stared deep into it, you'd get caught up inside and you'd get hypnotize by those eyes…and it also caught the attention of some people that worked in the human trafficking department. They said they would like to gamble 15.000 pounds for our son. If we win, we could keep the 15.000 pounds and our son, but if we lost, we need to give up our son and the 15.000 pounds."

Rin ran to Mr. Rei and slammed him down on the floor with her body. Rin fell on top of him and she grabbed the collar of Mr. Rei's suit; anger, sadness and disappointment in her eyes and voice.

"You gambled your own son? You do know that it was impossible to win don't you?" she screamed. The effort of screaming made her head feel dizzy, but she didn't care the slightest bit. Len hurried and grabbed Rin by her arms and lifted her away from Mr. Rei.

"Rin…calm down…" Len pleaded.

"Those people are lowly cheaters! They'd do anything to get what they want! And yet…you still gambled?" Rin screamed, tears flowing from her eyes. "It was impossible…impossible to win…you…_killed_ your own son."

That was completely worse than them disowning her.

To take a life… All for the sake of money… _This has gone too far._

Mr. Rei's eyes were filled with regretful tears. "I thought there was a chance of winning, Rin. I was such a fool…deep down, I knew they'd cheat, but I still gambled anyway, with hopes of winning a suicidal gamble."

"I hate you…I hate you, I hate you,_ I hate you!_" Rin screamed, unable to control her tears.

"That's why we changed, Rin. We quit our job and started working as normal teachers. We don't want to hurt anybody or anything else. We…don't want to kill anybody else."

"I don't care. To me, you will never change," Rin said, trying to control her anger. "Besides… Listening to your story… It made me realize something else…"

She reached for Mr. Rei's pocket and took the key. It was obvious to Rin that the key was in his pocket, since she could see the silhouette of the key there.

"In order to snap you out from your former self, the death for your own son was necessary. Don't you think that's cruel?" Rin showed her former dad her saddened face, and went out of the house.

After Rin got out, Len extended his hand and said, "The address?"

"Right," Mr. Rei said and gave a small paper to Len.

"Thank you," Len said matter-of-factly and went out the house.

* * *

"Will you please cheer up, Rin?" Len asked. He had put Excalibur back at the barn and went to Birmingham by train, and they're going to arrive to Birmingham any minute now.

Rin turned to look at Len, sitting on the sofa right in front of her. "How could I cheer up, Len? I just found out I had a brother whose name I don't even know, gambled by my former parents."

Len stayed quiet.

Tears started to flow down Rin's eyes again. "I didn't even know I had a brother. If I had been there, I would defend my brother, and even slap my own parents…so that they would realize what they were doing. If I had been there, my brother would still be _alive_."

Instinctively, Len's body hugged Rin. "It wasn't your fault, Rin. Stop blaming yourself for what your parents did."

"But…but…my…brother…must've been terrified…t-to be taken away by people you don't even know…"

Len felt Rin's tears staining his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry little brother…I-I'm sorry…I couldn't save you…" Rin stammered. Then, she cried all the way to Birmingham in Len's arms.

* * *

When they arrived at Birmingham's train station, Len immediately found a horse carriage and gave the address to the coachman.

"You sure you want to go here, kid?" The coachman asked.

"Yes. Why do you ask?" Len asked back.

"Nothing in particular," The coachman answered. He jerked his thumb sideways, gesturing for Rin and Len to hop into the carriage.

"Why did he ask whether we were sure we wanted to go to Ms. Charlotte's address or not?" Rin asked when Len had climbed in and closed the door of the horse carriage.

"I don't know… Maybe we'll find out when we get there," Len answered.

Rin nodded. "Hey, Len…"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for comforting me…earlier in the train," Rin said.

"No problem," Len said with a smile etched on his face.

"And Len…"

"Yes?"

"….Do you think I'll be able to find my brother again? Who knows if he's still alive, right?" Rin asked.

Len nodded. "Of course you'll see your brother again. Let's just hope that we'll be able to find him."

Rin's eyes perked up. "We?"

"Yes. We," Len said.

"Are you sure that we'll find my brother?" Rin asked; excitement in her voice.

"Yes," Len said, although, he could feel the sheer of doubt crawling into his voice.

* * *

"Here it is, kids," The coachman said as Len and Rin stepped out of the carriage.

"You sure?" Len asked the coachman.

"Positive," The coachman said. "I'll be taking my money now."

It was only natural for Len to ask the coachman whether this was the right address or not, since the building that was said to be Ms. Charlotte's house was basically sealed off by some horse carriages and hordes of investigators. The front door and interior of the house was basically filled with police.

Len gave the money to the coachman and the horse carriage went away, leaving plumes of dust and dirt in their wake.

"This can't be right," Rin muttered and walked closer to a police officer. "Excuse me, officer. May I bother you for a minute?"

The police officer nodded and said, "Certainly miss. What do you need?"

"I'm kind of lost here… Do you know where Mrs. Charlotte Buckingham lives?"

"Oh, this is where Mrs. Charlotte once lived," The police officer said as he pointed towards the house that was filled with loads of polices. "Didn't you hear that Mrs. Charlotte was murdered?" The police officer added.

Rin's eyes grew wide in shock.

"No, I hadn't." Of course, Rin wasn't lying.

The police officer looked confused. "How can you not? There was even a radio broadcast that Mrs. Charlotte Buckingham was murdered."

_Oh no,_ Rin thought. _I better think up of something._

"Well, you see, we're new in town and we came here to see Mrs. Charlotte. We didn't know that she was murdered," Len answered. Rin mentally sighed. Len came to the rescue again. "When was she murdered exactly?"

"Two days ago," The police officer replied. "And we're currently struggling to find the culprit. You see, the culprit also kidnapped a woman, named Mrs. Kagamine Natsumi."

The officer seemed to have noticed something. "Oh no, it slipped out. I wasn't supposed to say anything about Mrs. Kagamine's disappearance." The officer sighed. "Better learn to keep my mouth shut."

_I guess Rin was right to be suspicious,_ Len thought.

"Don't tell anyone about the disappearance of Mrs. Kagamine, though," The officer said. "This information is not to be spread among the citizens. If the citizens know that there is a kidnapper on the loose, it'll cause major havoc."

Rin nodded and asked, "May I have a look inside the house?"

"Sorry miss, but that area is restricted to the public," The police officer replied.

"Please officer? My name is Kagamine Rin, and I'm Mrs. Kagamine's daughter. I must go in." The part where she told the officer that she was Mrs. Kagamine's 'daughter' was basically a half-lie.

"Sorry, No can—"The police officer was cut short when he realized what Rin had just said. "Did you say your name was Rin?" he asked.

"Yes," Rin said.

"Then you must come in," The police officer said. "And no outsiders," he added as he looked at Len.

"No, it's okay," Rin said. "He's with me."

"Is he your butler?" The police officer asked.

"You could say that," Rin replied and flashed Len a teasing, playful smile.

_Butler?_ Len thought. _Why not something easier like, oh I don't know, _brother_? That way, the officer would think that Rin and I are related, and would let us_ both _in._

* * *

"Who are they?" A boy with teal-hair asked to the police officer.

"This lovely girl here is Rin," The police officer said, gesturing towards Rin. Then, he turned his right hand towards Len. "And this is her butler."

"Are you really Rin?" The teal-haired boy said.

"Yes. The one and only," Rin said.

"Nice to meet you, Rin," The teal-haired boy said as he kissed the back of Rin's hand. "I am Hatsune Mikuo."

_Hatsune? _Rin thought. _Is he related to Miku?_

Len seemed to have read Rin's mind, because he whispered, _"He's Miku's big brother,"_ into Rin's ear.

"What are you doing here, Mikuo?" Len asked.

"I'm here because I'm also searching for Mrs. Kagamine. I assume you are too, butler?" Mikuo said sarcastically.

Len swallowed a scowl.

"Yes, yes we are, Mr. Hatsune. I hope we both can work well together," Rin said politely with a polite smile stretched across her face.

"Of course, Ms. Rin," Mikuo said, returning the smile.

"Excuse me," The police officer said. "But, I believe I must return to my work now."

"Yes, certainly," Mikuo said and then the police officer went away.

Once the officer was out of earshot, Mikuo turned his eyes to Len. "A butler, Len? Seriously? Why not go for…Rin's friend or brother? You two look very much alike to be thought as twins."

Len shrugged. "Don't ask me. I thought about that too," he said with a sigh at the end.

"Oh please don't whine Len," Rin said playfully.

"Oh, right. I won't whine then, if that's what you want, mistress," Len said sarcastically.

"Why, yes you—"

"Sorry to interrupt," Mikuo said. "But we have a murder crime at our hands."

Rin immediately stopped the sentence from coming out of her lips.

"Uh…yes. Um, do you have any clue to where or who the murderer might be?" Len asked to Mikuo.

"I do have a clue right here," Mikuo said and took a folded paper out of his pocket. "Here you go. I found this near the body of Mrs. Charlotte Buckingham," he added and gave Rin the paper.

Rin unfolded it and read it with a confused look on her face. "How did this guy know my name?" she asked Len.

"What do you mean?" Len peeked over Rin's shoulder.

The insides of the paper were written in a messy, barely readable writing. The paper was also stained with blood. It read:

_"TO RIN:_

_This riddle is dedicated to you_

_Enter a world filled with blood, gore and rue_

_You have to solve this sign_

_But you don't have much time_

_Try to solve this riddle; I will grant you wine_

_Remember; letters and numbers intertwine_

_-P.S: I'll be waiting for you at 12."_

"I don't really understand what it's trying to say," Len muttered.

"Same goes to me," Mikuo said.

"Me too," Rin said.

After a long moment of silence, Len spoke up 2 wise sentences. "Try and scan the paper. The clue might be there right under our noses, and we'll never notice it."

"Len, you're a genius!" Rin shined with joy and excitement.

"Really?" Len asked. "I thought it sounded kind of stupid," Len admitted.

"No, Len," Rin said. "That's the right thing to say. I should've thought of that."

Rin scanned the paper again and noticed that the paper was ripped from a book or a notebook since its edges was torn. Rin squinted at the paper and noticed soft bumps. It looked like someone had pressed the pen so hard at the previous page of the notebook or book this paper was torn from, so that there were soft imitations of the letters on the blood-stained paper.

Rin unzipped her bag and took out a pencil. She rubbed the paper with her pencil, shading the parts where there were soft bumps and curves in the paper; imitation of words.

"What are you doing, Rin?" Len asked.

"Wait a second," Rin replied as she concentrated on rubbing the paper with the tip of the pencil.

When she was done, a collection of numbers and letters appeared. "I found a clue!" She accidently tossed her pencil in the air.

"You did?" Mikuo asked, amazed.

"I think so, yeah," Rin replied.

"Mind telling us?" Len asked and took the pencil from the floor and slipped it into Rin's bag.

"Look at this," Rin said and thrust the blood-stained, pencil-sketched paper towards Len and Mikuo. Mikuo and Len both leaned in and read the combination of numbers and letters to themselves. The combination that Rin sketched from the paper was_: 'Eight, fifteen, sixteen, five_Nineteen, twenty, eighteen, five, five, twenty'_ in roman numerals.

"I still don't get it," Mikuo said.

"I think I know what this means," Len muttered to himself.

"Pardon?" Mikuo said.

Len ripped out a paper from Rin's notebook and placed the notebook and the paper side by side on top of a table. "The answer is right here in the riddle," He explained while turning His eyes to Rin, Mikuo then back at Rin again.

"The riddle says _'Remember, letters and numbers intertwine'_. Intertwine can either mean _'related'_ or _'connected_'_,_ so it means that the alphabets and numbers are the same," Len guessed.

"What do you mean?" Mikuo asked.

"What I meant was that alphabets equals to numbers, and vice versa. For example, 'A' equals to '1' and 'H' equals to '8'. Just try it," Len advised.

Mikuo and Rin both counted their fingers as they said the alphabets aloud. It was right. Every time they reached the alphabet 'J' their fingers reached 10 and so on from A to Z.

"See what I mean?" Len asked. Both Rin and Mikuo nodded. "Okay then. I'll try and solve the numbers here."

Len scribbled numbers and letters on top of the paper he'd torn out of Rin's notebook. He replaced '5' with 'E', every '8' with 'H' and so on. A few seconds later, he read the results aloud.

"Hope Street," Len said. "Oh and the murderer said, 'I'll be waiting for you at 12', so I assume we get there before 12 o'clock."

"Hope Street," Mikuo echoed. "Mrs. Natsumi has to be there!"

"We better get going to Hope Street," Rin said as he looked towards Mikuo and Len. "We have 40 more minutes to get to Hope Street."

* * *

"We…" Len said, choosing carefully for his next words.

"…are completely lost," Rin finished for Len.

A couple of minutes earlier, the trio had arrived at Hope Street, but they just realized they didn't know which building they were supposed to venture into. The murderer didn't give them much detail.

"No, we're _not_ lost," Mikuo said. "We just need to…pick a house to search for."

But the three of them knew that it will take literally _forever_ to find the right house that Mrs. Natsumi was in, since there were loads of houses and buildings along the road.

"How about we ask the people whether they saw a woman with Ms. Natsumi's characteristics?" Rin suggested.

"Good idea," Mikuo said. "Spread out and everyone has to be back here in…"

Len checked his wristwatch. It says: 11:45. 15 more minutes until 12 o'clock. "8 minutes." Len finished.

"Right, 8 minutes," Mikuo said.

"Since when is he the boss?" Len whispered to Rin when Mikuo was out of earshot.

"I have no idea," Rin replied. "Well anyway, we better spread out."

"You sure you don't want me to come with you?" Len asked with a worried look on his face.

"No," Rin said, smiling. "I can handle myself."

"Okay then," Len said doubtfully and left.

Rin did the same and found a local person coming out from a bakery store. The woman was overweight, short and she wore a relatively clean apron over her blue dress. She held 2 bags filled with all types of bread in her arms.

"Excuse me," Rin said when the woman was in earshot.

"Yes?" The woman replied.

"May I interrupt you for a minute or two?" Rin asked politely.

"Certainly dear," The woman said. "What is it that you need?"

"I was just wondering if you've seen a tall woman that has long, curly, blond hair and blue eyes. Her name is Mrs. Kagamine Natsumi," Rin listed.

"Oh, you mean Natsumi," The woman echoed. "Yes, I've seen her. A man escorted her into that house," The woman recalled, pointing to the old, broken-down house that had its windows sealed with 2 planks of wood each, just at the end of the road.

Rin recalled that the officer in front of Mrs. Buckingham's house said that, the information regarding the disappearance of Mrs. Kagamine Natsumi is classified information. That might be why nobody was looking for her.

"When did you see her?" Rin asked.

"2 days ago, while I was buying my groceries," The nice, old woman replied.

_2 days ago,_ Rin thought, _that was exactly when Mrs. Charlotte was killed and Mrs. Natsumi was reported missing. So does that mean the murderer/kidnapper had killed Mrs. Charlotte and kidnapped Mrs. Natsumi?_

"What's wrong, dear?" The old woman asked, her tone worried by the sight of Rin daydreaming.

"N-nothing!" Rin stammered, finally out of her trance. "Thank you very much for your help."

"No problem dear," The woman replied. "Excuse me," The woman added as she nodded towards Rin with a smile on her face and went away.

Precisely 8 minutes later, the trio met up in their rendezvous spot and each reported what they had learned.

"Mrs. Natsumi is over there," Rin said, pointing to the house the old woman had shown her. At the exact moment Rin said that, Len said _"Mrs. Kagamine is right at the end of the street" _and Mikuo said,_ "She's inside the abandoned house on the end of the street"_ at the same time. The three of them all exchanged glances.

"Well, I guess we all know where Mrs. Natsumi is," Mikuo said.

* * *

The house was uglier than it looked from afar. The paint on the walls was dulled and some were peeled off, revealing the red brick wall underneath. The wooden door was rotten with age and it had no handle. The windows were sealed off by 2 wooden crisscrossing planks each. The roof was rotten and damp from rain. To top it all off, the house smelled of rotten eggs. Rin, Len and Mikuo both covered their mouth and nose and concentrated on breathing through their mouths.

Mikuo pushed the door open gently with his feet and the door creaked open. There was a soft _'click' _and Len and Rin could've sworn that they heard the sound of a clock ticking. But it was impossible since there were no clocks in the house.

The three of them went in slowly, terrified that their feet might fall through the holes on the ugly, wooden floor.

"Mrs. Kagamine?" Mikuo said aloud, his voice echoing through the damp walls.

"Mrs. Natsumi?" Rin said carefully, scared that something might pop out.

"Mrs. Kagamine Natsumi?" Len said, still covering his nose and mouth shut.

They all looked around the 2-story house. Nothing was in the 1st floor of the house, so they all decided to climb the rotten with age stairs.

_Creak….creak…creak…_

Every time their feet touched the steps, the stairs cracked softly and creaked loudly. They were scared of making loud noises. They were terrified if the murderer was still there and he could hear them coming.

Once they reached the top, they looked around, looking for Mrs. Natsumi. They opened doors that led to rooms, even looked behind and under the furniture.

But there was no Mrs. Kagamine Natsumi.

Though they knew they won't find Mrs. Natsumi in this floor, they still looked around for something.

For _clues_.

Rin looked behind and below chairs, desks—any furniture—there and found nothing. But then, when she went into a foul-smelling kitchen and traced her fingers alongside the wall, she noticed that there was a small crack right at the corner.

Rin walked up to the crack and noticed that there was another paper wedged into the small crack. Rin took hold of the edge of the paper and pulled it free. She was about to open the paper and read the contents when she heard Len called out to her.

"Rin!" Len called. "Rin, where are you?"

"Here!" Rin called back. "I'm in the kitchen!"

Len went into the kitchen with his right palm over his nose and mouth. "There you are, Rin," Len said.

"Have you found Mrs. Natsumi yet?" Rin asked while slipping the paper into her pocket.

"Nope." Disappointment was visible in his face.

"Did you look in the attic?" Rin asked.

"Not yet," Len admitted.

"Let's go to the attic then."

* * *

The attic was very narrow and the ceiling was so low that Mikuo and Len had to duck a little to avoid bumping their heads onto the ceiling. The attic was almost empty and there was only 1 window, and that window was sealed off by wooden planks. Len struggled to find a light switch but found none.

"Um Rin... We might need a torch here," Len said.

"Oh right," Rin said as she reached into her bag and pulled out the unlit torch and match. She set fire to the torch and finally they could see a little in the illuminating light.

The attic was even scarier when lit up by the illuminating torch. Shadows grew and shrunk and danced about the place, and to top it all off, the walls of the attic were filled with old and torn paintings. As they descend deeper into the attic, they could see rows of paintings of mythical beasts along the wall.

When they reached the end of the attic, Rin saw that there was some kind of dried paint shaped to make some letters drawn on the wall.

"What's this?" Rin asked and traced the writings on the wall with her right palm.

"Let's find out," Len said and walked towards the wall. He rubbed his index finger on the writing and scanned it. "This is dried blood."

A shiver went down Rin's spine. She backed up and noticed that the letters formed by the dried blood were some kind of riddle, so she read the riddle aloud.

_"Tick tock tick tock, time is running out_

_You better run away, scream and shout_

_I know even in the gloom_

_You could hear and see a BOOM_

_Tock, tick, tock, tick, hurry, run far away_

_Scream, shout and call to your mom as you sway_

_You'll end in 10, stay, and you'll hear a boom_

_How unfortunate and pitiful; you just met your doom."_

"What does it mean?" Mikuo asked.

Len and Rin looked at each other with terrified looks on their faces.

"Len, how long have we entered this house?" Rin asked.

Len checked his watch. "8 minutes."

"We have 2 minutes to run away," Rin said as her voice faltered.

"What do you—" Mikuo was cut short by the fact that Len grabbed his arm and pushed Rin in front of them.

"1 minute and 45 seconds," Len screamed. He pushed Rin so that she would run faster. "Go! Run faster, Rin!" Len screamed.

Rin hurried downstairs and she jumped the last 3 steps down. The shock was too much for the rotten house floor and Rin's right foot smashed through, from the knee down, stuck below the floor.

To top all the bad luck off, when Rin's feet smashed through the floor, Rin lost her grip on the torch and the torch went flying in the air and landed near the door. The damp, wet, rotten floor quickly caught on fire. Luckily, the fire wasn't too big and they could walk around it.

"Oh no…" Len muttered. He pushed Mikuo outside the rotten house and Mikuo stumbled down the front steps of the house and rolled on the ground outside the house. "Run away as fast as you can! Warn the people to go away from the house! It's going to explode!" Len screamed and ran to Rin's side.

Mikuo did as he was told to do and Len could hear Mikuo's loud and commanding voice outside, screaming _'Run away! This house is going to explode!' _over and over again. By the screams of terror and feet stomping on the ground, Len could tell that the people was doing as what Mikuo had told—no, _commanded_ them to do.

"Len…" Rin said as she tried to get her right feet out of the rotten floor. "My leg…it's stuck."

"I could see that," Len said as he gave a quick glance at his watch. 30 more seconds until the house exploded. He grabbed Rin's right foot and yanked on it. "Pull in the count of three. One, two…three!"

Rin and Len both yanked Rin's foot as hard as they could.

But nothing happened.

They yanked again and again until Rin's foot was a little bit out of the floor. Rin felt tears stung her eyes. "Just leave me…save yourself, Len…"

"No!" Len tried to pull out Rin's foot again. He glanced at his watch.

The house was going to explode in _12, 11, 10…_

"Pull, Rin! One, two, three!" Len and Rin tried to pull Rin's leg out, but it was in vain.

Rin gave up and tears ran down her face. "It's impossible, Len…save…yourself…"

"No, Rin! I will never do that!" The fire that started out small, grew large and extended its fiery tongue all over the place, licking everything clean. In a matter of seconds, there was a flaming inferno between the open door and Len.

The house was going to explode in _5, 4…_

Len yanked at his hardest and Rin's foot came free from the floor, finally.

Although her knee was bruised, and her white boot was torn and damaged, she managed to get her leg out.

Len carried Rin in his arms and raced to the door.

The house was going to explode in _3, 2…1…_

Len jumped through the wall of fire, through the open door and rolled down the end of the street. …0

The house exploded in a chain of explosions and fireworks. Debris and flaming furniture went flying to the sky. Len kept on rolling with Rin tightly in his arms. When he had stopped, a huge worn-out bed fell a few centimeters from his face and Rin's head.

"Are you okay, Rin?" Len asked when debris and furniture had stopped flying and crash-landing everywhere. He stood up and killed the little flaming fire dancing on his clothes. After he had put out all the little fire from his clothes, he helped Rin stand up.

Rin nodded.

"Thank God then," Len said with a sigh.

Rin would've died if Len didn't yank her feet out. Rin _almost_ died. Len swore to himself that he won't let Rin in danger again.

Little did he know that he was going to be tested in his oath.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hope you liked it :]


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note:** Sorry I haven't been updating for a while… I was…well, I thought I'd abandon this fic for good, but then… I read it again from the very first chapter and realized that I had to finish this. I've got the whole plot set out and planned neatly, so I'll finish this :) Anyway, enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Vocaloid.

_**/EDIT/: I've edited this fic! This chapter has a **_**lot **_**of differences, but other than that, the editing won't have much effect on the story plot. Enjoy!**_

* * *

**Chapter 7: The Letter**

"Come on," Len said as he helped Rin get on her feet, "we've got to find Mikuo."

Rin stood up and dusted her skirt. "Yeah, we've got to finish th—"

Suddenly, Rin felt a stabbing pain in her heart. She clutched her chest tightly for dear life. It was as if a knife stabbed her in the heart and squeezed the air out of her lungs. _No, no, no, no_ Rin thought. _Not now…_The blond felt her knees weaken and fell onto the ground, wheezing.

"Rin!" Len clutched both of Rin's shoulders and shook her gently. "Rin, what's wrong?"

Rin looked up to see Len's blue eyes tinted with worry.

It was the adrenaline. She couldn't be too excited, or too tired. If she got too tired or excited, her heart will be pumping _way_ too fast. This is not good for a person with a heart cancer.

"Rin!"

Rin opened her mouth to say _'I'm okay'_ but nothing came out. She could only mouth those words.

Len shook his head. "What do you mean you're okay? You certainly don't look like it." To prove his point, Rin coughed out blood. This is it. Len has to do something, and _fast_; before she choked on her own blood.

The world started spinning under Rin's feet and she swayed to and fro gently, before she finally passed out in Len's arms.

"No, no, no…" Len started to lose his composure. He didn't have his first-aid kit, and the stuff he needed to take care of Rin.

He stood up, Rin in arms, and started to walk aimlessly, trying to find a clinic. When he found none, panic swelled up inside him. "Help! Somebody, help!" Len said loudly.

No one answered his pleas.

Don't get me wrong; there were a few people there. But, they just stared at Len and Rin and then walked away, pretending to have never heard Len's pleas.

Len winced a bit. His right ankle was sprained and his left knee was bruised badly. He can't keep this up. "Help us, please!"

"What's wrong?"

Len turned around quickly, putting some pressure on his right ankle. He grimaced in pain, but quickly shoved that feeling away. There was a more important matter in his hands. No pun intended.

The source of the voice was a handsome boy, as tall as Len. He had black hair and blue eyes. Wait, was it purple? No, now it's light purple. Well, whatever. He can't decide. It was as if the color keeps changing a bit, although it doesn't change as much and the change was barely noticeable. You'll see the color of those eyes swirl and change like a gem. It was hypnotic.

"Is your friend okay?" The boy pointed at Rin.

Len suddenly flashed with anger. "What? You didn't hear me calling for help? Does she look okay to you?"

The boy chuckled lightly, somehow finding this a bit funny.

"Len, there you are! I went to the spot where you were last time, but I couldn't find you," Mikuo said as he approached Len's side. He took notice of Rin in Len's arms. "What happened to Rin? Is she okay?"

Len groaned loudly. "Look. She won't be okay if we don't give her medical treatment."

"Well, the clinic is just about a 30 minute walk from here," the boy said.

"There won't _be_ 30 minutes for her. We have to treat her right _now_," Len said sternly, holding back the pain in both of his legs.

"Then, come with me. My house is just right around the corner," the boy said with a smile.

* * *

"Where should we put her?" Mikuo asked the boy.

The black-haired boy pointed to the guest room. "Over there."

"Thanks," Len thanked. He opened the door and laid Rin onto the bed. Len made sure if Rin was breathing or not and found out that Rin was breathing. _Barely._

As Len treated Rin, Mikuo tried to make a conversation with their savior.

"Thank you, for saving us," Mikuo said with a smile.

"No problem. Although, your friend there," he pointed to Len, "isn't such a nice person under pressure."

"So I've heard," Mikuo noted. "Ah! I haven't properly introduced myself." Mikuo extended out a hand. "My name is Mikuo. Hatsune Mikuo."

The boy shook Mikuo's extended hand. "Kei. Nishimura Kei."

"It's a pleasure meeting you, Kei."

"The pleasure's all mine." Kei looked at Rin through the door Len left open. "Believe me."

Mikuo thought that this scene was a bit…_peculiar._

"Are you new in town?" Kei asked, meeting Mikuo's eyes.

"Oh, no, we're just trying to find a missing person."

"Really?" Kei asked, intrigued. "Who?"

"Mrs. Kagamine Natsumi." Apparently, Mikuo didn't keep his mouth shut. Didn't he know that this was _classified_ information? Classified as in, _you can't tell anyone?_

"Was she kidnapped? Or did she just run away by herself?" Mikuo asked as he went into the kitchen.

"Kidnapped." Mikuo followed Kei into the kitchen. "Have you seen her?"

Kei waved a cup in front of Mikuo. "Tea?"

Mikuo was a bit startled by the fact that Kei just ignored his question. But, he answered Kei's question anyway. "Sure, thanks."

Kei turned his back to Mikuo. "No."

Mikuo raised his eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

The black-haired boy chuckled softly. "What I meant to say was, no, I haven't seen Mrs. Kagamine around."

"Ah," Mikuo said, nodding. Kei's way of answering questions is a bit weird.

Then, Len's voice came from the kitchen door. "Excuse me; do you have any bandages I could use?"

Kei turned to look at Len. "Ah, the grumpy one. The bandages are in the cupboard inside the guest room."

Len shot Kei a look. "Thanks," he said, and went away.

* * *

I woke up, dazed and confused. I tried to sit up, but a hand touched my shoulder and pushed me back down.

"Don't sit up yet, Rin," Len said.

I touched my forehead with my palm. "Where am I, Len?"

"You're in Kei's house. You passed out and he was kind enough to take us to his home," Len said with a smile.

Rin suddenly panicked. "What time is it? How long was I out?"

"Relax, Rin," Len said, grabbing a cup of water. "Here, drink this."

Rin took the glass and sipped a bit.

"You were out for about 2 hours," Len said. "And it's about 2:30 now."

Rin nodded. She flinched, as if suddenly remembering something, and reached into her pocket. "I found something at the abandoned house." The blond pulled out a worn out paper.

"Ah!" Len reached into his pocket and pulled out a paper. "So did I."

"Let's open it." They both opened their papers and after a few moments, they both said, _"What?"_ in perfect unison.

"Len, it's a letter," Rin said, her blue eyes filled with excitement. "And it's addressed to me."

* * *

"A letter?" I said, sitting on the bed and peering over Rin's shoulder. "What does it say?"

Rin opened her mouth.

_"Dear Rin,_

_I'm glad you've come this far. Really, I am. I have_**P**_ray_**E**_d for_**T**_his day. This is wh_**ER**_e we'll witness it together. We'll finally receive justice._

_Judgment. Justice. Light."_

"Why are those letters in bold?" I asked while pointing to one of the bold letters.

"You're right. P, E, T, E, R. Peter. What does that mean?" Rin asked to mostly herself.

I showed the piece of paper I got to Rin. "At least it makes more sense than this."

Rin looked at the piece of paper and saw the drawing of an angel. "An angel…"

"An angel and Peter. We've—"

The door opened and Kei and Mikuo came in.

"How are you feeling, Rin?" Mikuo asked as he walked to the edge of the bed.

"Fine, thank you." Rin smiled. She turned her gaze to the black-haired boy next to Mikuo. "You must be Kei."

"Nishimura Kei. And you must be Rin," Kei said as he extended a hand.

Rin happily shook it. "It's nice to—"

Rin suddenly stopped talking. She looked deep into Kei's eyes and I thought she was hypnotized by it for a second there. "You… Where have I heard about those eyes before?"

Kei looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Your eyes… They remind me of something someone told me," Rin said. The blond was deep in thought for a moment, until she buried those thoughts deep in her mind and put on her usual smiling face. "Never mind that. Anyway, thank you for saving us."

"My pleasure." Kei smiled. "I heard that all of you are searching for Mrs. Kagamine Natsumi. I'd be happy to help."

"You would?" Rin asked.

I could read Rin's expression well. I'm guessing that she was thinking something like,

_Wasn't the disappearance of my former mom supposed to be classified information? Well, maybe he knew from either Len or Mikuo. I'm guessing Mikuo, since Len knows when he's supposed to shut up,_ Rin thought.

"Sure, of course," Kei said.

"Well, okay. Here," Rin said, as she extended her hand, holding the 2 pieces of paper. "We found these and we think it's a clue to where Mrs. Kagamine might be."

The tall, black-haired boy read the letter thoroughly and glanced at the drawing of an angel. "The kidnapper-slash-murderer knows you, Rin?"

"I think so," Rin answered, although she was quite sure of the answer herself.

"I don't understand what this means," Kei said honestly.

"Let me have a look at it for a moment," I said. Kei gave me the two pieces of paper and I analyzed it.

In Rin's paper, the clue was _'Peter'_. But, I have a suspicion that _'Peter'_ wasn't the only clue. I searched the paper, until my eyes locked on the 3 words at the bottom of the paper. _Judgment, Justice, Light_. What does that mean? I scanned the paper once more and my gaze fell onto one specific sentence. _'We'll finally receive justice'_. Receive justice? Does that mean, like a court or some kind?

But then, I thought about the third word at the bottom of the paper. Light. Light can mean two things here: either kindness and forgiveness, or just regular light. Which one is the right one?

"Len?" Rin said worriedly. "What's wrong?" I didn't notice that I was deep in thought until now.

"Nothing's wrong, Rin. I was just thinking," I said.

"I'd like to see please," Mikuo said. He walked to me, but he accidentally kicked my sprained ankle. I yelped in pain. "Sorry! I didn't mean to kick your sprained ankle, Len!"

"Len, you sprained your ankle?" Rin said. My pants covered the bandage around my knee and ankle, so Rin hadn't seen my injuries. "It's because of me, isn't it? You sprained your ankle when you saved me from the explosion. Am I right?"

"So you're telling me that you were in that exploding house? I'm surprised no officer is there to check it out yet," Kei said, interrupting Rin.

Rin ignored Kei's comment.

I didn't want Rin to blame herself for my injuries, but I couldn't lie to her either. So, all I did was look away.

"I thought so," Rin said. "I'm sorry for causing you so much trouble, Len."

I smiled and looked up to meet Rin's blue eyes. "It's okay."

"I'll repay you back," Rin said, smiling her usual heartwarming smile. "And thank you."

"My, you're such a sweet and kind little angel, aren't you?" Kei said, with no trace of sarcasm in his voice.

Rin blushed from embarrassment.

Angel. Angel, that's it! Angels are sweet and kind. Since my piece of paper showed a drawing of an angel, this must mean the _'Light'_ from the letter means kindness.

So, kindness, justice, judgment, and Peter.

A place where _'We'll finally receive justice'_.

A place where there is judgment, justice, and kindness.

According to the angel, I know where the place is. And I voiced my thoughts out.

"I know where the place is," I announced loudly.

"Tell me," Mikuo said. "With those conditions, both of you won't be able to find Mrs. Kagamine. Let me and Kei do it."

I thought I saw a smirk on Kei's face; a flicker of a grin. But, I must be hallucinating, since Kei smiled his big smile.

"Yeah, let _us_ do it," Kei said.

"But, I…I have to go with you," Rin stammered.

"And so do I," I said.

Mikuo sighed. He checked the clock in the guest room. "Alright. It's 2:57. If we're not back by 4, you can come and look for us. How about it?"

"I'm completely fine with it," Kei said.

"Fine with me," I said.

"Oh, alright," Rin said, finally giving up.

"Mind telling us where the place is, Len?" Mikuo asked.

"Well, in the letter, there were bold letters that read _'Peter'_. There were also 3 other words: Judgment, Justice, and Light. My piece of paper showed a drawing of an angel. Where do you think you'll receive light, judgment, and justice?"

"Church," Rin whispered, barely audible. But I heard it anyway.

"That's right, Rin. The church," I said proudly.

"There are a lot of churches here in Birmingham. Mind telling us which?" Kei asked.

"St. Peter's Church. Do you know where it is?" I asked Kei.

Kei smiled broadly. "Of course I do. I'll draw a map for you, so that if you do search for us, you'll know where the church is."

While Kei drew a map, Rin nudged my arm and said, "Great logic there, detective."

* * *

"This is the place, Kei?" Mikuo asked. The church they were facing was old and ruined. Looks abandoned, too.

"Yeah, Len did say St. Peter's, right? I used to come and play here when I was little. I know this place like the back of my hand." Kei went into the church, the door creaking loudly behind him. St. Peter's is right at the end of this road, just like the abandoned house.

Mikuo came in into the church doubtfully. "You sure the floor's safe? It creaks every time I—"

"Yeah, it's fine," Kei said, before stopping abruptly.

"Kei? Are you okay?" Mikuo walked closer to Kei and placed his hand on Kei's shoulder. "Is something wr—"

The last thing Mikuo saw was a sinister smile, before a knife pierced through his heart.

* * *

I checked the clock. 4:15. I looked at Len worriedly. He knew why I was so worried, and he knew what we must do. I sat up carefully, steadily and slowly placed both of my legs to the floor. As soon as I stood up, I lost my balance for a moment, and then Len held my left arm.

"Thanks," I said. "You've got the map, right?"

"You sure this is the place, Len?" I asked. The church was old, and it looked very vulnerable to strong winds.

"Positive," Len said as he shoved the map into his pocket. He extended his right hand. "Let's go."

I grabbed hold of his hand and went into the church. It creaks every time my foot stepped onto the old wooden floor.

"It's…dark in here," I said, stating the obvious.

"What do you expect from an abandoned church anyway, Rin?" Len said.

"I was thi—"

Then, I saw a dark figure right behind Len, holding some kind of huge rock. It held the rock up high, and charged directly for Len at full speed. "Len, watch out!" I shouted and jumped into Len's arms, making us crash onto the old chairs. Because of its old age, the chair broke when the pressure of me and Len together hit it.

Splinters scraped my cheeks and Len's, but we hardly felt a thing.

All of a sudden, Len's eyes widened as if he saw something. He grabbed me tightly and jumped to the right, avoiding the flying rock that was hurtling towards us. The blond boy shoved me to the left and punched the figure hard in the face. The figure swayed, lost its balance and fell down. Len jumped on top of the figure and held his fist up high.

"Len, it's me!" the figure shouted just before Len could throw another punch at him. "Kei."

"Kei," Len said, still on top of him. "Why did you attack us?"

"I couldn't see a thing in this place; I thought you were the kidnapper, and I thought Rin was a girl you kidnapped. It's quite hard to see in the dark."

"You mean the kidnapper isn't here?" Rin said from behind Len. She was dusting off her skirt and arms from splinters.

"No, and I can't find Mrs. Kagamine," Kei said. Len got off of Kei and then helped him up. "Thanks, Len."

"Yeah. Where's Mikuo?"

Kei didn't say anything.

Instead, he stabbed Len in the stomach.

Len gasped, clutched his stomach and fell down.

"Len!" I shouted. I wanted to run to Len's side, but Kei was faster and he pinned me down. "Let me go, Kei!"

"Don't think so." Kei locked both of my arms on the top of my head and tied it with a rope he has on his belt. I didn't notice that before.

He stood up, and I did too. My hands were tied together, though. Kei went to Len and pulled him up by his ponytail. Len winced in pain from both his hair _and _his stomach.

The black-haired boy took the knife out of Len's stomach and put it in his pocket. Wiping his bloody hands on his pants, he then guided both me and Len forward, and then shoved both of us onto the floor.

"So, _you're_ the culprit," I said ruefully.

Kei gave me a simple head nod and kneeled in front of me, his face inches away from mine. "Don't you recognize me? I know you've never seen me before, but at least you should have some sisterly instinct to know who I am."

"Sisterly instinct?" I said. Sisterly instinct… No, don't tell me…

I looked into those eyes and fell deep. It was as if I was being sucked into them. That's why they were so familiar. My dad—I mean, Mr. Kagamine told me that my brother's eyes were just like these… Kei… Kei is my…

"Little brother?" I said aloud.

Kei clapped his hands together. "Finally! I was wondering when you'll notice."

"But your family name…"

"Isn't Nishimura," Kei interrupted. "I lied. It's actually Kagamine. Well, it _was_ Kagamine."

"But I thought you were…"

"Dead? No, sister dear. I escaped. Killed those people who took me, too. So, no one is coming after me," Kei finished smugly.

"Why are you trying to kill me?" I asked. I was thankful that the fear I felt didn't show in my voice.

Kei laughed. It reminded me of Dad's laugh whenever he was stressed. "Kill you? No, Rin. I'm going to _show_you something."

Kei turned his back to us and went to the chair in the corner of the room. I used this opportunity to scoot closer to Len, who was trying to stop his stomach from bleeding.

"Len," I whispered.

Len turned his face towards me. "We need to get out of here, R-Rin. Have you seen Mikuo?" he stammered in a low voice.

I shook my head.

Len grimaced. "I've g-got to stop the bleeding."

He took off his shirt and I can see the wound in his stomach. "From the amount of the blood, I think the wound isn't too deep." The bare-chested blond ripped his long sleeves off.

Len wrapped the sleeves around his stomach. When he was done bandaging it, the blood had lessened a bit. While Len was wearing the shirt, I tried to wiggle my hands a bit.

"Let me help you," Len whispered. It was stupid of Kei to not tie Len up.

"Later," I whispered. "Kei is…" I looked at Kei. Some of the chairs at the back hid Kei's lower body. "…strutting his way here." Well, Kei was strutting with both of his hands at his side.

"The pocket knife," Len whispered. He reached into his pocket and his fingers touched cold metal. "Do you still have it?"

I nodded. This will be essential for later.

Len nodded and looked around. Then, something caught his attention. He nudged my arm and pointed to a chair at his right. "It's…"

My gaze followed Len's finger and I saw a boy with his hands intertwined over his stomach. The teal hair looked familiar. "…Mikuo."

Len crawled his way carefully to Mikuo. He checked his breathing, and I saw Len clutch Mikuo's hands. I looked to find Kei. He was almost here. "Len," I whispered urgently. "Kei's coming."

The boy crawled back to my side. "Gone."

"What?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Mikuo," Len looked at me with regret and sadness in his eyes."He's dead."

My eyes widened, startled. "He's…dead?"

Len nodded reluctantly.

"Well," Kei said aloud, "I see that our little blond friend over there had treated his wound."

Len and I both looked up, to see Kei pulling a woman behind him by her long, curly blond hair. I know that hair and figure anywhere.

Kei laid the blond woman onto the floor behind us. He adjusted the woman's position so that she looked just like the position Mikuo was in.

"Mom…" I whispered.

Kei smiled and Len looked as angry as I felt. "Correct," Kei said.

"Why would you do this?" Len's eyes were filled with fury, although from his hands that were forming into fists, I know he's trying to suppress that emotion.

"Why? Didn't I say _'We'll finally receive justice'_in the letter?" Kei asked as he clutched his knife.

I looked at him ruefully and that gave away my answer.

"I grew up with stories about how my parents disowned and threw my big sister, Rin, onto the streets. I hated my parents.

They were greedy, cunning and they were driven mad by the amount of money they had. To prove how greedy and mad they are, they gambled me for a few thousand pounds. All I had to thank them for was the martial arts lessons they had paid to give me. I guess they needed a strong son to, oh I don't know…defend them from the people they feared."

While Kei's back faced us, I nudged Len gently, hoping he'll get the message. He did, and he gave me his pocket knife. I slipped the knife into the space between my wrists and turned the pocket knife around so that the blade was in contact with the rope. Slipping my wrists between my thighs, I locked my thighs together so that my skirt and legs will hide my wrists. I pressed the blade to the rope, hard, and began moving the handle of the knife up and down without any noise.

"Brother and sister," Kei continued, "both in pain; both homeless. They need to pay for the crimes they had done, sister dear. It is time where we'll finally receive justice. This is where we'll witness it together." He looked at me and Len with a grin. "In a church, to top it all off. Fitting."

"I know they were ruthless to us, Kei," I said sincerely, "and I will never forgive Mom and Dad because they gambled you and disowned me."

Kei smiled at this.

"But we've just got to move on. Forget about this. If you don't want to forgive them, fine with me, because I'll never forgive them too," I said with the most serious face I could muster in all this pain.

The black-haired boy faltered for a little until he composed himself, and was back to the revenge-seeking boy I saw earlier. "They don't care for us, Rin. They treated us ruthlessly, they deserved this."

I suddenly remember how Dad looked like. Shattered and regretful. "You don't know what you're saying, Kei. Before all of this, I went to saw Dad to talk about the disappearance of Mom." I could feel the rope loosen from my wrists. "He really regretted this, Kei. When you were gone, they got fired because there were just so many bad stories about them. They got broke. They lived in regret. And…"

Kei faltered and I smiled. "…He said he wanted me back," I finished.

"Yes, but if you look at the facts, Mom and Dad realized this a _bit_ too late. They regretted their mistakes when they had no money left," Kei said with cold eyes.

I mustered my best sincere smile. "Give them a second chance. Both you and I were given a second chance to live. I lived my second life happily, and you have to, too."

Kei kept a straight face, although he couldn't hide the sadness in his eyes from me. He also seemed like he was deep in thought. I continued my little speech.

"Don't live your second life in vengeance and sorrow. Please, I beg you as a sister, Kei," I said. The rope was off of my wrists now.

My little brother smiled.

He's giving into it. He's going to say yes and…

"No."

He lunged towards me. I was supposed to fight or jump out of the way, but he caught me off guard and I did _not_ see that coming.

Len jumped and fell on top of Kei. Kei stabbed Len in the shoulder and Len winced in pain. The tall, black-haired boy pushed Len out of the way, took the knife out of the Len's shoulder, and dusted his clothes.

I stayed where I was, my now free wrists—that was holding a pocket knife—still hidden in my thighs and skirt. I didn't need to move. I know what I'm going to do.

Kei kneeled in front of me and pushed the knife's blade hard against my neck. "Fine. If you don't want revenge, I'll do it for you. But… Now that you and Len know who the culprit is, I'll have to kill you both. Starting with you."

I put on my best _I'm-going-to-die-but-I'm-not-scared_ face. "Fine. But, can I ask something first? Count it as a…last request."

"Sure," Kei said.

"Are you really going to kill Mom, Dad, me and Len?"

Kei nodded. It was all the answer I needed.

"Then… I'm sorry." I quickly stabbed Kei in the stomach, pulled out, and pushed him backwards, the friction causing Kei's blade to graze my neck. I pinned Kei down, although Kei was stronger than me and he started wriggling his body. Len stood up and freed Mrs. Kagamine and took the rope from her feet.

"Let me," Len said as he lifted me off of Kei and pulled him into a sitting position. Once seated, Len pushed Kei's feet upwards so that his knee was touching his chest. Then, Len tied Kei's wrists and feet together tightly.

We turned Kei in. Fortunately, there were lots of police officers around the place now, out to check the abandoned house that exploded. Len and I turned Mikuo in too, so that he'd have his own proper burial. All's that left is taking the unconscious Mrs. Kagamine Natsumi back to Mr. Kagamine. Len carried her on his back.

"Len," I said, voice hoarse, "how's your wound?"

Len smiled. "Still hurts."

I looked at him, eyes filled joy mixed with concern. "Thank you, for coming with me. And I'm sorry…If you hadn't come with me…you wouldn't get hurt so badly."

It was true. Len got a sprained ankle, a badly bruised knee, scratched cheeks, a wound on the shoulder, and a stomach wound. All I got was a cut on my neck, bruised ankle, scratched cheeks, and a bloody knee. His injuries were far more dangerous than mine.

"Nonsense," Len said. "I wanted to go with you, so it's not entirely your fault. And stop saying sorry."

I gave him an enthusiastic nod. I remembered something and my expression changes. "How do we explain all of our injuries to your mom and dad?"

Len's grin faded into a frown.

* * *

**Author's Note:** That's all for now :)


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note:** This is the 8th chapter of Proof of Life, as promised. Oh yeah, I need to make a few things clear. In the previous chapters, we've stumbled upon a lot of mysteries, such as Len's past. I assure you, matters like these are going to be mentioned and further explained in the upcoming chapters. So, a quick recap of the questions: **1.)** _'What was Len's past?'_ **2.)** _What good news did Luka wanted to tell Len, but hasn't gotten the chance to do so?_ **3.)** _'Why did Len break Miku's necklace?'_

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Vocaloid, obviously.

* * *

**Chapter 8: To Give**

In the train, Rin and Len sat opposite each other, while Natsumi—Rin's ex-mother—slept on Rin's lap. Gradually, Natsumi was regaining consciousness, and Rin's nervousness was increasing. She wouldn't stop fidgeting, playing with a strand of hair, and she kept on glancing downwards to Natsumi. Rin didn't want Natsumi to wake up, since she'd have to face her then.

Rin tapped on her seat while silently praying that Natsumi wouldn't wake up. Noticing Rin fidgeting and constantly glancing to Natsumi, Len decided to speak up.

"She's not going to do anything bad to you, Rin," Len said as he tried to look calm, for the sake of Rin.

Rin stopped murmuring and looked up to him. "I know that."

Len raised an eyebrow. "Then why are you so nervous?"

"It's because," Rin said as she glanced nervously at her feet, "I don't know what to say when she wakes up."

"Then don't say anything." Logical words. "Easy as that."

Rin felt dumb because of Len's words. It was logical for her not to say anything if she didn't want to, or didn't know what to say. But wouldn't that be awkward? Besides, the _real_ reason she was afraid of her ex-mother waking up was...

"But then she'd talk." Rin studied Natsumi's face. "She'd say something that will make me forgive her."

Yes, Rin was sure of that. Kagamine Natsumi had a way with words, saying things that were only necessary to gain someone's trust. Even with her half-clipped-truth, people would still believe her. She was just a natural talker.

Len looked confused. "So you're telling me you _don't_ want to forgive her."

It was a statement; not a question. Len was sure his words were the truth.

God knew—even _Rin_ and Len himself knew—that Len was right.

"Yes," Rin said. She was aware that by saying this, she'd look unforgiving and selfish. "I don't want to."

Len stared at Rin, and his face gave away his curiosity. His face was giving that _I-want-to-know-why_ look that Rin knew so well. Not wanting to disappoint him, Rin decided to answer his unspoken question.

"If she succeeds in making me forgive her, she'd persuade me to live with her," Rin was a bit embarrassed to say the whole truth, but she had to, "and I'd agree."

Was Rin imagining things, or did Len just smile? He looked a bit relieved as well. That was weird. Why did Len look relieved? Did he want Rin to go with her mother? Rin had to make sure.

"What's with that face, Len? Do you really want me to go with her?" Rin hadn't meant to look hurt, really.

"No," Len said with a smile. "It's the opposite, actually. By you telling me that you don't want to forgive her, you're _also_ telling me that you _don't_ want to live with her, but you want to live with _me. _Correct?"

Rin felt a faint blush creeping to her cheeks.

Len smiled triumphantly; though Rin had no idea why he looked so happy.

"Besides, if I stay with her, I'd—"

But then, Kagamine Natsumi stirred and slowly opened her eyes.

Rin was shocked. _No,_ Rin thought. _Please, not now._

Her begging was not approved, and Natsumi woke up.

* * *

"Wh—Where am I?" Natsumi rubbed her sore head. She looked around to study her environment, and her eyes locked with Rin's. "R—Rin?"

Rin wasn't able to hide the terror and fear in her face. But those deep, blue eyes…were what made Natsumi so sure that the girl she was looking at was Rin. Her daughter.

"Why are you here?" Natsumi asked. The woman sat a bit farther away from Rin, so she could study both Rin and Len's faces. "Why am _I_ here?"

Seeing that Rin was not in the state where she could answer questions, Len spoke for her.

"You were kidnapped," Len said matter-of-factly, "by your own son."

The woman with the same blue eyes as Rin's, to Len's horror, looked unfazed. "Kei. I figured he had always wanted to kill me."

Len was a bit startled to hear that, but he continued on speaking. "Yes, I know. You gambled him, and lost. It was obvious that he wanted vengeance."

"Mm." Natsumi nodded. "I know."

Rin tried to speak, but she only managed a few words laced with horror. "Why… Why are you so calm?"

The blond woman turned to Rin. "Why wouldn't I be? My husband and I gambled him in our moment of weakness, and we lost to greed. It was _our_ fault. It's obvious that he wants to kill me."

Len was dumbfounded. "And you're okay with that?"

Kagamine Natsumi smiled ruefully. "Yes. If I was to die, I'd prefer that I die in the hands of my child. That's the only thing that can make me feel I had atoned part of my sins."

"You…sound like you felt sorry," Rin said. She was gaining her calmness bit by bit, although she was still shaking.

Natsumi raised an eyebrow and smiled mockingly, as if saying _'isn't that obvious?' _

"I _am_ sorry," she said. "We were depressed because we were broke_ again,_ and in our moment of weakness, we gambled Kei."

"You're… not lying, are you?" Rin wanted to believe her, really she did.

"Of course." Mrs. Kagamine straightened her rumpled clothes. She looked a bit sad, but she had always known that her son had always wanted to kill her. It was the truth, and there was no need to grief about it. You can't complain about these sorts of things, all you can do is accept the bitter truth.

Len saw that Rin had gained a lot of her calmness, and decided that it was Rin's turn to do the talking.

"So… are you going to ask me to stay with you?" Rin could feel her heart beating very fast. _Not good,_ Rin thought. _I've got to be calm. I've got to slow my heart rate down._

Natsumi smiled. That smile had a tint of sadness, regret, and understanding. Like what a _real_ mother would have. "No, of course not. I want to change my life, for _real_ this time. I'd probably help out orphans and give donations. I want to do good deeds. But if you live with me, you might be burdened with your past."

Mrs. Kagamine sat closer to Rin and stroked her hair lovingly. "I want you to be married and stay with the one you love most. Live a happy life, dear. Second chances are rare, you know."

Tears were at the verge of Rin's eyes. She wasn't used to this loving, caring, understanding side of her ex-mother. _No,_ Rin thought. _I'm proud to call her my_ _mother now. _

"But of course," Rin's mother grinned, "you're welcome to visit or stay with us anytime. Just come by when you need your parents, dear."

Finally, she could feel what it was like to have a mother. A _real_ mother. A mother that loves you with all her heart. With this, she could forgive her father as well. The warm feeling that stirred inside Rin made her jump into her mother's arms.

"I love you, Rin," Rin's mother said as she stroked Rin's hair and back. "I'll forever be with you."

Rin nodded. Tears ran down her cheeks, and she tightened her grip around her mother. "I love you too."

* * *

After waving goodbye to Rin's parents, Rin and Len walked home. Len and Rin had tried to cover most of their wounds, and succeeded. The wounds were barely visible now.

The silence between them was soothing, since both have a lot on their minds.

Rin wondered a lot of stuff, like, how they're going to explain their wounds, how Luka was doing, how _Miku_ was doing… Wait. _Miku._ That reminded her of Mikuo.

"Len," Rin said as she glanced towards him.

"I know what you're thinking," Len said as he looked up to the sky. "It's about Mikuo, isn't it?"

It was amazing that Len always knew what Rin was thinking about. It was like he could _read_ through her, and she felt completely exposed then.

"How did you know?"

"I was thinking the same thing." Len spoke softer. "The police said that they'd send Mikuo's body here, his hometown, for a proper burial. Maybe it'll arrive tomorrow, since they'd have to contact Mikuo's family and arrange the burial."

"Yeah," Rin said. "That's what I'm worried about. How will Miku react when she knows that her brother's _dead?_ To make matters worse, what if she knew that the person who killed her brother was _my_ brother? She'd…" Rin's voice faltered, "…kill me."

Len's face hardened with determination. "Don't worry, Rin. I will _never_ let that happen. You have my word."

Rin nodded; though she was still a bit scared of the fact that Miku will want to kill her.

They walked in an awkward silence after that. Well, it was awkward for Rin, since she felt unnerved and she wanted Len to talk, to _soothe_ her, to calm her down. It wasn't awkward for Len, since he had a lot in his mind. He was aware that he hadn't told Rin about his past too. Though, he decided that it will be best if he put that matter aside for now. Now, he needed to make sure that _nobody—especially _Miku_—_knows that Kei, the murderer-slash-kidnapper, was Rin's brother.

* * *

A few moments later, Rin and Len passed Luka's bakery. Len thought about visiting her, but decided against it, since he was _very_ tired. But apparently, Rin wanted to visit Luka so much, she was practically pleading to Len. Len knew that Rin was tired as well, but she still wanted to visit Luka. Feeling guilty, Len walked into the bakery, following after Rin.

The bells above the door chimed, welcoming their presence.

"Luka!" Rin called out so enthusiastically, she didn't look she was tired at all.

Luka looked up from her counter. She didn't have any customers, which was quite a rare sight to see.

"Rin," Luka said, smiling. Then, she turned to Len, and she looked a bit sad. "Len."

_Why_ _does she look so sad?_ Rin and Len both thought. Len decided to ask, since he was her childhood friend and all.

"Why do you look so sad?" Len walked towards her counter.

"Uh, nothing," Luka replied. "It's just that I've been waiting for someone today, and he didn't show up."

"He?" Rin looked a bit confused.

"Who is _'he'_?" Len asked.

Color rose to Luka's cheeks. "He's my, uh, fiancé."

Len's eyes widened. It looked like his blue eyes could pop out any second now. "You have a _fiancé?_ Why didn't you tell me?"

Luka started to blush out of embarrassment. "I tried to, the other day. But Rin was here and I decided that I'd welcome her first."

The blond girl, who was the subject of Luka's words, bowed her head down in guilt. "Sorry, Luka."

The pink-headed girl started to shake her head. "No, it's completely not your fault! It was my decision that I'd tell Len another day."

"So," Len looked serious. "Tell me about your fiancé."

Rin hadn't seen Len look so serious. It was like he was very protective of Luka. Like he wouldn't let any random stranger marry her and take her away somewhere.

"Uh," Luka shifted her feet as she blushed, "he's sweet, nice, can be romantic from time to time, responsible, independent, loyal, and most of all, he loves me."

Luka looked so beautiful when she described her fiancé. She obviously loved the guy.

"Aren't you going to tell us the name?" Rin asked happily. She was happy that her friend was going to marry the man she loved the most.

"It's a secret." Luka grinned playfully. "I'm going to tell you both the name of my fiancé once we're married."

Len was in complete shock. "When?"

"2 weeks from now." Luka smiled sheepishly.

"Wait. Before you marry him," the blond boy kept his serious face on, "does he have proper education?"

Luka laughed so hard, she looked like she was going to roll on the floor. "Seriously…Len…you…sound…exactly…like…Dad," Luka said between giggles.

"But I've got to make sure whether he's worthy of you or not!" Len complained.

Len's childhood friend stopped laughing and patted Len's head. "That's sweet of you, Len. But trust me, the guy is perfect. He's the one I love most. I want to be with him until I die."

Luka leaned forward and whispered in Len's ear, "I know you know how that feels, Len."

* * *

Rin couldn't hear what Luka and Len were talking about, but to her surprise, that jealousy monster was inside her heart again. She hadn't seen Len look so serious before. That was a sign that Len really, truly care for Luka.

Len moved away from Luka, blushing. Why was he blushing?

"Yeah." Len cleared his throat. "I get it, Luka."

Luka grinned. "Do you remember the package that your mom told you to give me, Len?"

Len nodded.

"Guess what's inside it," Luka said.

"A wedding dress?" Rin guessed. It seemed like a pretty good guess to her.

The beautiful pink-headed girl blushed; although she was smiling as well. "Good job, Rin."

"So you're really getting married." Len shook his head in dismay. "To think you're getting ahead of me, Luka. I thought I said that I'd marry someone first."

"Well I guess you were wrong." Luka patted Len's head. "Don't worry, Len. If the guy turned out to be a total jerk, you can punch him in the face for me."

* * *

_**December 21**__**st**__** 1889, London**_

"Yesterday was fun, wasn't it?" Len said sarcastically. He was renewing his bandages with the help of Rin.

"Yeah," Rin replied. She noticed Len's sarcasm, but she thought it'd be fun if she teased him by ignoring that. "Yesterday was a lot of fun."

"I was being sarcastic, Rin."

"I know." Rin giggled.

Len sighed in frustration. "I can't believe Luka's getting married."

"You should be happy for her, you know." Rin helped Len button up his shirt.

"I know." Len sighed. "But she's getting _way_ ahead of me."

Rin stood up and fixed Len's collar, making it bend just at the right angle, covering the wound on his neck. "What's with her getting ahead of you anyway?" she asked.

"Well," Len looked past Rin's shoulder, "I always wanted to be first. She's my friend, but she's also my rival. She's always better at things, and she can do things I can't; like holding her breath underwater for so long."

Rin laughed at that.

"That's why," Len continued, "I've always wanted to be ahead of her. To be better than her. To do things she can't."

"But you know, Len," Rin said as she smiled fondly at him. "You don't have to do things she can't. People are different in their own ways."

Len looked like he still didn't change his mind, though. So Rin kept on going.

"Well you see," Rin sat in lowered on her knees and held Len's hands, "you're the main character of your own book."

The boy looked startled for a minute.

"Life is like a half-written book. You're the main character, but then you're the author as well. As you walk through the pages of your life, you fill them with words—emotions, experiences, thoughts, hopes. It's up to you. That's why everybody's different in their own way. And that's what makes them so interesting."

"Interesting," Len said. "I've never—"

Len didn't have the chance to finish his words because of the loud banging at the front gate.

"What was that?" Rin stood up.

"I don't know," Len said as he walked towards the window. He gazed outside for a minute, and his eyes widened. "What's she doing here?"

"'_She'_?" Rin asked.

Len didn't answer Rin; instead, he ran outside.

"Wait!" Rin called out Len's name and ran after him.

Once outside, she could see Len in front of the gate. She caught up to him and took in shallow breaths.

"Geez, Len, you—"

Then she saw it.

She understood why Len had run so fast to get here. The sight she was seeing caught her off guard.

It was Luka.

And she was crying.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hope you enjoyed that!


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note:** The 9th chapter of Proof of Life. I do hope that you'll enjoy reading, as much as I enjoy writing this.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Vocaloid.

* * *

**Chapter 9: Bitter Truth**

Luka was a strong woman. She never complained about things, she always excelled in any task she was given, she never got mad easily, and to top it all off, she never cried. _Ever._

Sure she can be annoyed at her work, but she never complained about how hard it was being the owner _and_ the manager of her own bakery. To think that Luka was _crying_ in front of Len's eyes… well, that caught him _really_ off guard.

"Lu…ka?" Len's voice was laced with hesitation and worry. Was this _really_ the Luka he knew? When they were kids, it had always been Luka to be the one to soothe Len. Now, vice versa. "What's wrong?"

Luka shook the front gate slightly. "Let…me…in…first," she said between sobs. Len had been so startled, he forgot to let his childhood friend in.

The pink-headed woman tried to stop her tears with her hands, but it was no use. She couldn't stop crying.

Seeing Luka in this fragile state, Rin panicked. "Do you want some tea, Luka?" Yeah, that was the best she could do. Rin needed to persuade Luka into the house.

Luka nodded and wrapped her arms around herself. "T-that'll be great."

Len wasn't used to this fragile state of Luka. But, it was like that the _slightest_ tremor could destroy her, reduce her to pieces. Len felt very protective of her then. He wrapped her right arm around Luka's shoulders, and patted her head.

"It's going to be okay," Len said softly. He wasn't used to soothing Luka, but he imagined that she was a lost child; which was _not_ easy to do. "Everything's going to be okay."

That green jealousy monster, to Rin's surprise, didn't show up in her heart. Maybe it was because Luka was crying, or maybe that Rin also felt protective of her. Either way, she was glad that jealousy monster wasn't there.

* * *

Rin, Len, and Luka sat around the kitchen's table. The trio had a cup of tea sitting in front each of them.

Luka took the cup of tea in her trembling hands and sipped. She wasn't crying anymore. _Thank goodness, _Rin and Len both thought.

Both Rin and Len knew that it wasn't the right time to ask Luka about the cause of her sadness. They decided that they'll let Luka tell them by herself, without the need to be asked about it first.

As if right on cue, Luka opened her mouth to speak.

"It's about…" Luka placed the cup down. Although she wasn't crying, her eyes were already moist again, "…my fiancé."

Anger suddenly consumed Len. "Was _he_ the one that made you cry?" Len's tone was intimidating. He had promised Luka that he'd beat her fiancé up if her fiancé turned out to be a jerk in the end.

Luka played with her long sleeve. "Well… more or less."

_That's it,_ Len thought. _This guy is _so_ dead._

Rin could feel the murderous aura that Len was giving out. That was _not_ good. Feeling the need to calm him down, she grabbed the edge of Len's sleeve lightly.

"Calm down, Len," Rin said softly. Then, she turned her calming blue eyes towards Luka. "What do you mean by _'more or less',_ Luka?"

The beautiful woman was in the verge of tears again. "He didn't _physically_ make me cry. No, he'd _never_ hurt me in that way. Actually, he was the _literal_ cause of my sadness."

Rin and Len's faces both gave that _what-do-you-mean_ look.

"Well, he's…" Luka, to Len's horror, started crying again. "…he's _dead._"

And _BAM!_

It was like something hard knocked both Rin and Len in the faces.

"Why—How—_What?_" Len couldn't find the exact words to express his surprised feeling.

"What—I don't—How—_When?_" Rin wasn't any better as well.

It was no surprise that both of them would act that way. Luka was talking about her fiancé with so much happiness—so much _life_ yesterday, and today, he's a dead person.

"I d-don't know _exactly_ when," Luka said as she tried to stop her sobs. "But the police said he died yesterday."

_Died yesterday?_ Rin thought. _I know one person who died yesterday…_

"How?" Len was still left utterly surprised.

Luka shook her head. "The police said it was because he slipped and…_impaled_ himself."

"_Impaled?_" Rin echoed. _I know one_ exact _same person who died because a sharp object impaled him right through the heart,_ Rin thought.

"Yes," Luka smiled ruefully. She looked extremely sad with streaks of tears along her cheeks. "That's him alright. He had always been so careless, it was no surprise that he managed to impale himself."

Len was a bit terrified. He didn't know Luka could talk about something like _'impaling'_ so lightly.

"He's just the talker type." Luka wiped her cheeks. "He acts tough, but he can be so careless from time to time."

_Don't tell me… _Len thought. _I know one person who was just like that._

"That's Mikuo all right." Luka's eyes moistened again at the mention of his name. "Len, punch him for me, please. Turns out he's a jerk after all."

* * *

Mikuo.

That name rang in Rin's head for a thousand times.

But what hurt her the most, was the fact that Luka didn't know that Mikuo was murdered by her own _brother._

What Rin found peculiar, was the fact that the police hadn't told Luka the truth. Maybe it was to make sure that nobody knew about a murderer in town. If the townsfolk heard about a murderer that had been walking their streets, chaos might spread.

Besides, you'd be sentenced to death if you killed someone. The fact that Rin's brother might be death sentenced did not unnerve her at all. Kei lived all his life in vengeance, and she knew that he won't beg forgiveness for his sins, no matter what. Death was the only way he could escape. He had wanted it, anyway. The look in Kei's eyes had been screaming '_kill me, please'._ Yes, Rin had seen that look before; in her own eyes when she was little.

The fact that her brother killed Luka's fiancé, made her very guilty. She tried to hide her guilt, but Len had noticed it.

"He impaled himself?" Len asked. He had to drive the attention away from Rin, so that Luka wouldn't see the guilt in Rin's eyes.

"Yeah," Luka said. "Stupid, but that's Mikuo. The stupid, careless Mikuo that I love so much."

_Love,_ Rin thought. _She loves him. And my brother took him from her._

"So anyway," Luka had regained her composure, "I came here to tell you guys about the burial. I wanted to tell you the details, but I lost myself for a second there. Sorry."

"It's okay," Len said. "I'd be worried if you _hadn't_ cried."

"Mm." Luka nodded. She took 2 invitation letters from her pocket. "The details are all in here. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some baking to do."

Luka stood up and headed for the door. Before she turned the handle, she smiled at Rin. "Oh, and thank you for the tea."

* * *

Rin had never felt so guilty in her life.

Not long ago, it was the green jealousy monster. Now, it was the yellow guilt monster that was corroding her heart; just like acid.

_It's because of me,_ Rin thought. _I caused this to happen._

She felt vulnerable then. Yes, she was used to the green jealousy monster running, rampaging through her heart. But the yellow guilt monster that leaks acid… _that_ she wasn't used to. The guilt was corrosive, and it felt like it can burn her heart into ashes.

Len noticed that Rin was in pain. He could see that she was burdened with guilt. The pained look on Rin's face hurt him as well, and his body instantly wrapped their arms around her.

"I know what you're thinking, Rin." Len's grip tightened. "It's not your fault."

"But my brother _killed_ him. He took away Luka's lover, Len." Rin tried her best not to cry. "We're related, don't you remember? That makes me feel…guilty."

Len stifled his laughter. He wasn't laughing at her, he was laughing at how _innocent_ she was; completely unlike him.

"Don't you remember, Rin?" Len asked. "You said that people are different. Their lives are different books, and they're very different authors. No one is the same."

Rin's breath stopped for a moment. Len had turned her words _against_ her.

"So you and your brother are different authors," Len said as he grinned. "Different individuals."

Rin looked up.

"His life is his life, and yours is yours." Len patted Rin's head lovingly. "The only thing that connects you both is the blood running through your veins. Other than that, you're completely different."

Len was right.

"His problems are his, Rin." Len smirked. "And his sins are his sins."

* * *

Len was always the smartest kid in school. He was always smarter than anybody else, it was no wonder the teachers all learn to love and fear him.

But about life? Rin was always better than him.

Rin was the one who reaped the meaning of life, and how precious it is. Len was the one who used her words against herself, using logic. So, the one who cheered Rin up, was no other than Rin herself. Len was only the person who made her realize that.

"So anyway," Rin felt better now, "when is the burial?"

Len opened the letter. "Tomorrow at 3 in the afternoon."

"They don't waste time, do they?" Rin cleaned the cups of tea.

"No, they don't." Len put the letter back into the envelope. It was rare for him to think about Miku, but he knew what it felt like to lose someone you love. "I wonder how Miku's doing."

Rin's hands stopped cleaning.

"I don't know much about their brother-sister relationship," Len said. "But they didn't look like they were close at school."

"But still." Rin finished cleaning and sat opposite Len. "They're still related. I just hope she won't take it very hard."

"Mm." Len nodded. All this talk about life and death made him remember about Lily. He hadn't meant to do it, really. He did what he thought was best.

* * *

It was a long time ago. Len was just turning 8, and Lily was 12. Len loved his sister dearly, and he looked up to her. Lily had a melodious voice, a beautiful face, and a kind heart. Unfortunately, her life was destined to burn short.

Len always played with Lily, but he knew when to stop. He had to stop when his sister was breathing heavily, and when her cheeks reddened. He couldn't afford to increase her heart rate, as it will shorten her life span.

But lately, Lily had been sneaking out of the house while Len was at school. Lily would always come back to the mansion panting, and she'd crash into her bed.

One day, Len decided to skip school so he could watch his sister. Lily, of course, thought Len had gone to school, and climbed down her window by climbing the veins that grew alongside the walls. Yes, she was extremely good at climbing.

Len decided to follow after her. While Lily excelled in climbing, Len mastered the art of stealth. He could follow Lily without being noticed at all.

Len followed Lily to a part of town he wasn't familiar of. Well, it was _out_ of town, to be exact. Lily walked through the woods and hummed happily as she enjoyed the view. Len, on the other hand, was left confused. Did Lily walk here every day he saw her panting?

Lily got out of the woods and into a wide, beautiful flower field. Len hid not far away from her behind the bushes. His sister was looking around, as if she was looking for somebody. Why was she meeting somebody _here_ of all places?

The blond-haired girl stopped looking around, threw her arms in the air and shouted, "Miku!"

_Miku?_ Len thought. _Hatsune Miku? My classmate who has throat cancer?_

Len hadn't noticed it before, but suddenly, a girl with long, loose, teal hair sat up. She had been lying on the grass before, the reason why Len hadn't seen her.

"Lily!" Miku croaked. She called out with such delight, even though her voice was rusty. "I've been waiting for you!"

"Sorry!" Lily ran to Miku's side. Wait! She wasn't supposed to run! "I had to make sure no one's home."

Miku smiled delightfully. "No, it's okay!"

Even though Len was a bit far away now, since Lily had run to Miku's place, he could still hear what they were talking about.

"So, what do you want to sing today, Miku?" Lily asked as she plopped beside Miku. "Something cheerful, I hope."

"Yes!" Miku threw her arms around Lily. "Let's sing something fast!"

They both sang and ran around in the flower field until the sun went down.

Len was growing tired waiting in the bushes.

_So this is why Lily always looked so tired,_ Len thought. _Because she was pushing herself over the limits with Miku._

Not long after the sun went down, Lily began panting heavily and beads of sweat rolled down her face. She stopped running and clutched her chest tightly. Noticing that no one was chasing after her, Miku turned around and gasped.

"Lily!" Miku ran to Lily's side. Lily fell to her knees and gasped for air. "Lily! Are you okay?"

_No!_ Len thought. He didn't care about his hiding spot anymore. Instead, he intended to _reveal_ himself to both of them. And so, he jumped out and ran to his sister's aid.

"Lily!" Len shouted.

Miku was startled and dumbfounded. "Len?"

"Move," he said while pushing Miku to the side. "She needs air."

Miku stepped back fearfully. "W-what's wrong with her, Len?"

"You mean you didn't know?" Len felt anger rising to his chest. "All this time and you _didn't know?_"

"W-what do you mean?" Miku was trembling now.

The 8-year-old boy carried his unconscious sister on his back. "She has heart cancer. There. Happy?"

Miku's eyes widened in shock and she fell down. "She…has heart cancer?"

"Yeah." The boy turned his back. "And you're trying to kill her."

Len walked away, leaving Miku speechless.

* * *

Back at home, Lily woke up to the sound of Len's breathing beside her.

"Len?" Lily sat up and rubbed her head. She shook her brother's shoulder gently. "Len, wake up."

Len, being the light sleeper he was, woke up by the sudden movement on his shoulders. He opened his eyes and rubbed them sleepily.

"Lily," he said.

"You saw us, didn't you?" Lily locked eyes with Len. She had a rueful smile across her lips.

"Yeah, I saw." Len tried not to look sad. "Are you trying to kill yourself, sister?"

Lily nodded half-heartedly. "About time you figured out, little brother."

The 8-year-old looked surprised. He hadn't meant what he said, really. It was just a cruel joke.

"But," Len looked down to his feet, "why?"

"I…" Lily patted Len's head lovingly. "I know I'm destined to die soon, Len. I'm just trying to speed up the process."

"No," Len shook his head, "you're lying. I know. I can feel it."

Now it was Lily's turn to look shocked.

"You're trying to help Miku, aren't you?" Len hypothesized. "You _know_ she has throat cancer, and you're trying to help her, being the kind person you are. Being with Miku is speeding up the disease, and you're trying to tell me that _you're_ the one who wants to speed up the process. You're only telling me that so Miku won't take the blame, am I right?"

Lily laughed. "You've always been too smart for your own good, Len."

_Why?_ Len thought. _Why is she willing to risk her life on helping one person?_

"She needs my help, Len," Lily said. "I won't die until she is convinced that life is precious."

"No." Len shook his head. "I'll make sure you _never_ see her again. I'll drop out of school if I have to."

The weak girl started to shake her head. "No! Please, Len. Let me help her. If I don't, she might lose hope on life."

"I don't care." Len was well aware that he looked like a cruel 8-year-old by saying this. "Your life is more important to me, sister."

"No!" Lily grabbed Len's shirt to stop him from walking away. From a far point of view, a 12-year-old clinging to an 8-year-old boy would've looked funny. "Please, Len. If I succeed in making her cheerful again, I'll have a proof of my life."

Len turned around. "Proof of life?"

"Yes." Lily smiled and let go of her brother. "A proof that I existed. It can only be achieved by doing a very good deed. And my good deed is convincing Miku that life is precious."

_I don't get it,_ Len thought. _Isn't living with us proof enough that she exists?_

Noticing that Len wasn't going to change his mind, Lily sighed.

"Look, Len." Lily took her brother's hands in hers. Her gaze was kind and it warmed Len right to his feet. "I know I'll die soon."

Len felt tears prickle his eyes.

"The only reason I'm holding on, is to get a proof of my life." Lily smiled.

_No,_ Len thought. _You're my everything, Lily. I'm nothing without my sister._

"If I don't succeed in convincing her," Lily smiled happily, which Len thought was a bit peculiar, "I want you to kill me."

* * *

**Author's Note:** What do you think? Did you enjoy it? :]


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